


III: Requiem

by Red Centurion (RedCenturionG)



Series: For A Better Tomorrow [3]
Category: Mass Effect Trilogy
Genre: Adventure, Alliance, Aria's syndicate, Bahak incident, Cerberus-Shadow Broker conflict, Citadel Council, Desolation, F/M, Fall of Omega, First War for Omega, Future segments, Geth, Intrigue, ME2 Cerberus, ME3 Cerberus, Reapers, Romance, Shadow Broker's army, Talimance, Tragedy, Violence, plot heavy, primal
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-04-19
Updated: 2019-04-19
Packaged: 2020-01-16 07:59:08
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 35
Words: 382,402
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18517243
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/RedCenturionG/pseuds/Red%20Centurion
Summary: The Collector threat is done; and the Normandy crew survived. The Shadow Broker has eyes watching a friend of Shepard's. Loyalties will be questioned, lives put on the line. And Peta will stop at nothing to get the girl of his dreams. In this, the crew is never safe. And in the end, Marcus Shepard will have to make a decision that could cripple his resolve forever.Work was originally published between December 20, 2013 and July 4, 2014.





	1. Prologue

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Cerberus attacks and boards the Normandy as it arrives back through the Omega 4 Relay. But the crew is ready for them.

****

**REQUIEM**

**PROLOGUE**

_October 9, 2185_

_0800 hours._

_Main Bridge, Brussels-Class Stealth Frigate CAW Tajikistan, Guarding Omega 4 Relay._

_Captain Andrew Nepal._

Space; it was a wonderous place. Ever since humanity first dreamt of the stars, space had been a beautiful, amazing place; one humanity could never hope to access. Yet they did. Two hundred years in the making. Humanity now not only travelled the stars;  _they owned them._ Or at least would, when Cerberus won the hearts of the Alliance loyalists or even the Alliance itself. Humanity was superior to the other races; they just had to realize it.

Captain Andrew Nepal was a spacer kid; or at least he had always dreamt of being one. He had been born on Earth; a little area called Australia. Two hundred years ago, hearing about that country and referring to it as a military superpower would have been laughed at. But in the future, where the Systems Alliance rules Earth as a single global power, Australia is no longer a nation to be laughed at.

Nepal was australian himself and ever since he was a child, he had dreamed of joining the Alliance Navy. But he had been born in a harsh family; his father despised the Alliance and its ideals, and his mother hated aliens; something which Nepal adopted. But when it came to it, and he was 18 years of age, he joined the Alliance, but took his mother's xenophobic ideals with him. And now he commanded one of many Cerberus stealth frigates; fighting the good fight for humanity.

He looked out at the stars, but he couldn't look at them the same now. Not with the pulsing red glow of the Omega 4 Relay poisoning the view. Everything about the relay radiated Reaper presence; the color, the size, the design...it was all Reaper architecture; designed by a race of sentient starships that harvested life every fifty thousand years; a relay that was ultimately connected to a massive deathtrap. Thanks to Commander Marcus Shepard however, that trap had been inactive for two years.

Now his stealth frigate, the CAW Tujikistan, lay in wait near the relay, stealth drive engaged, ready to ambush the savior of the galaxy's vessel and disable it, before taking its crew hostage and the ship back to a Cerberus drydock where it belonged.

Marcus Shepard had recently destroyed the Collectors; a race of twisted hybrid servants of the Reapers, who had once been the mighty prothean race. With them destroyed, human colonies would stop disappearing, but the Reapers were still coming; and the Illusive Man needed Shepard under lock and key if they were to win. If that involved inputting a control chip into the crew's brains, then so be it.

Nepal brought up the inventory of the ship's weaponry; they were hopelessly outmatched. Four GARDIAN batteries; two rear, two bow. A couple of absolute hellfire missile banks at the bow and a few pulse lasers. No MAC cannon, no heavy weaponry. The Normandy would pick them off like they were an annoying fly.

But there was one weapon on the frigate that with a single lock-on and pull of the trigger, would result in rendering all the Normandy's defenses meaningless. It was an EMP emitter; mounted on the chin of his vessel. They would have to drop the stealth drive, but by the time they did that and fired, it would be too late for Shepard's ship to retaliate. All its weapons, defenses, upgrades and speed would be rendered redundant with a single, well-placed shot.

Andrew's ship had been equipped with a platoon of well-armed commandos. Once the Normandy was disabled, the Tajikistan would board the enemy ship and insert through both entrances; airlock and shuttle bay. Injured from the collector battle, they would hardly put up a fight, and with a few tranquilizers fired, it would all be over. Once secured, the platoon's commander, First Lieutenant Jonathan Sand, would destroy the AI with a system purge, disable the geth and bring it in for weapons testing and secure the crew to be moved onto the ship. It would all go perfectly fine. That, and Miranda Lawson and Jacob Taylor would be executed for treason. TIM was only so forgiving.

He looked away from the displays as his weapons officer, Dante, spoke up, "Sir, Omega 4 Relay powering up; they're coming through."

"You know what to do," Nepal ordered, turning in his chair to face him, "Have the VI sound General's Quarters. Dante, have the weapon ready," he quickly turned to face his navigation officer, Yvette, "Rotate us anti-clockwise until facing the relay and the Normandy's exit point. Also make sure we're relative with them on the galactic plane. Get to it."

Alarms rang throughout the ship and the bridge turned a dull red in color. Officers rushed around the bridge, while Nepal placed his face in his palm, just letting himself get lost in the persistent crimson of the relay. He watched it power up more and more.  _We'll get you Shepard; and you won't even know we're coming for ya._

The Normandy flashed forward in a dash of blood red; the Omega 4 Relay unclasping its tentacles from the frigates hull and watching it move away. Nepal examined the ship's hull.  _Christ, that thing took a beating, didn't it? Scrapes along the hull, a hole at the shuttle bay, hull scarring, evidence of a crash..._ That just made his job alot easier.

"Drop the stealth," Nepal ordered, "Fire immediately upon drop. Don't wait for the VI to get IFF IDENT, just override it and fire."

He watched as the Normandy turned its GARDIANs instantly to aim at the now revealed frigate, but as he predicted, it was too late. The EMP pulsed away from the frigate and licked at the Normandy; soaking it vibrant blue electricity. When it was all done, the GARDIANs on the frigate went dead and became adrift. He smiled grimly.

He turned to his communications officer, Emilio, "Inform Lieutenant Sand that the mission is a go. Launch the shuttle. Have his second team meet at the airlock and prepare to board. Let's hit them before they have to time to mount resistance. Yvette, get us a dock. Move it, double time. Illusive Man doesn't enjoy failure and doesn't reward it."

_Give me the Normandy and I'll give you command of the Elbrus. I'll give you my flagship, Nepal._

And what captain didn't dream of commanding a dreadnought?

He smiled and leaned back in his seat as the Tujikistan moved into dock with the Normandy, turning to his XO, Jason, and ordering him to go to the mess hall and get him a coffee with two sugars. He wanted to think about just what the Elbrus might look like.

**{Loading...}**

_October 9, 2185_

_0804 hours._

_Cockpit, Normandy-Class Stealth Frigate Normandy SR-2, Disabled around Omega 4 Relay._

_Chief Warrant Officer Tiana Runner._

Clearing the airlock was easy; noone came rushing to meet them. So both of the squads under his command cleared the airlock pretty well. Even the AI was defenseless to protect the vessel from the Cerberus invaders. But it really wasn't invading when the ship was your property was it? No, this was  _reclaiming_ what was rightfully theirs. And, with a note, to take a little side of crew.  _What the Illusive Man needs, he gets._

She once again eyed her repurposed vindicator battle rifle; instead of thermal clips, it as retrofitted with transquilizer darts, designed to take down any alien, no matter the race. Team Two under Sand would have more tranquilizers in terms of the krogan supersoldier, but that was it. This was going to be too easy. Too fun.

They moved into the dimly lit cockpit; the only thing operating being the emergency lighting. She turned to look at the cockpit, weapon raised to see the back of a seat. She, along with Sand, had been given clear details on the crew, and she knew the crippled pilot would be no threat, "Turn around, Moreau."

The chair spun around, and the pilot faced them, hands up, "Are you going to shoot me? You think you can just take this ship? You can kiss my-"

Her finger tightened on the trigger and a dart flew out, hitting the pilot in the neck. He fell back quickly, eyes drooping steadily, "You can't-You won't...we'll...take...you...dooooowwwnnnnn..." His eyes fell closed and he slouched back in his seat, now in a sleep-like state. Pilot neatralized, she motioned squad one to take point and move down the flight deck while she took the rear with her main squad.

The CIC was empty but for a couple of the treacherous crew, but they were put to sleep easily enough. They moved through the CIC quickly and quietly, weapons drawn and ready. Squad two took the armoury while her squad took the tech lab. Her team got to clear the CIC and deck one, while Sand took care of engineering and crew deck. I wonder what Shepard would think if they secured his quarian bitch. But be motivation.

Both squads in position, she gave the go ahead and they breached the rooms using electronic power surges; the doors were designed to open upon haptic touch, but due to no power, the haptic interfaces were offline. Her team cleared the empty bow between the CIC and the lab and then moved into the main lab.

One of the suit-rats on the ship, the one called 'Lia'Vael' stood in the middle, back turned towards them. Three of her men approached her back, weapons up and ready. One ordered her to turn around, but she declined to do so. So he gave her an attitude adjustment by grabbing her shoulder roughly and spinning her around.

A knife embedded itself in his neck and he fell to the ground, bleeding profusely. An SMG went off and got another commando in the side of his head, the salarian appearing out of nowhere, SMG in hand. He pushed Lia onto the floor, firing an incineration blast into the third trooper, killing her instantly and allowing him to face the rest of her squad.

Unfortunately, without kinetic barriers, he was completely defenseless. Her team opened fire and three darts hit the salarian in the chest, one in the forehead. He collapsed forward, knocked out. The quarian quickly followed suit. With them neatralized, her squad quickly moved through the corridor occupying the conference room entrance and moved into the armoury.

It was a bloody mess; five commandos dead, and two injured. Turning around, she saw the unconscious forms of Jacob Taylor and Kaidan Alenko, two human traitors. She wanted to kill them both badly, but decided it wasn't worth defying TIM's orders, and ordered second squad to secure the CIC while the rest of her squad takes Deck One.

The elevator was out of use due to the EMP; so they took the maintenance ladders. With ten men in her squad left, including herself, they were all that was needed to take care of Shepard; as strong as he was. She looked forward to putting a dart into him herself.

**{Loading...}**

_October 9, 2185_

_0806 hours._

_Shuttle Bay, Normandy-Class Stealth Frigate Normandy SR-2, Disabled around Omega 4 Relay._

_First Lieutenant Jonathan Sand._

Gaining access to the shuttle bay was easy; even with its main doors closed, the hole in the hull was more than large enough for them to get through.  _Whatever caused that hole was fucking massive. Its both a pity and a fortunate thing it didn't finish the job, whatever the hell it was._ So the shuttle landed in the middle of the bay, the pilot informing them that the hull breach was sealed by a forcefield, so EVA equipment wasn't necessary.

Once outside, they could see a battle had raged in the shuttle bay. One of the ventilation fans had been blown completely from its hinges and rested ten meters across the bay, right beside the docking control consoles. One of the kodiaks had once been a smoking ruin, but the fires had long since burned out. Equipment was shown lying all over the place; dumped where it was just before the forcefield was erected to stop decompression.

The rubble of a YMIR mech lay not far away and that's when he saw it just next to the elevator; the crippled form of a hammerhead tank; the only one in existence. It was a Cerberus prototype tank built under the name of Project: Firewalker, and had been given to the Normandy to aid in the battle against the Collectors, but one side of it had been incinerated and blown off. The tank was destroyed in most meanings of the term; useless.  _Billions of credits...blown apart by collectors._

Both squads pushed into the shuttle bay, all of them noticing a shattered glass window up above; more signs of battle, and he also saw a scorch mark tracking all the wall of the engineering corridor. It was a  _huge_ scorch mark. They approached the elevator, but just as they reached it, one of his commandos' head exploded, a large gaping hole in his skull where his brain had been and fell to the ground in a heap of gore. They looked up, weapons raised to see the attacker, but saw nothing. Another man fell, same injury he ordered the elevator opened. But no further attacks came.

The elevator doors were forced open and they immediately entered the shaft, looking up to see the elevator stuck halfway between decks three and four. Moving up the ladder, all 26 soldiers moved up the ladder steadily gaining access to deck four and opening the door. Jonathan lead the way, weapon ready. He saw nothing.

Once out, he looked back down, his voice barely above a whisper, "Squad One, keep going up and secure the Crew Deck. We'll stay here and keep engineering."

The commander of that squad and his section moved into the main engineering corridor, weapons raised and ready. He split them up; three men moved to the garbage disposal area, four to the cargo bay, and the rest were with him to take care of the quarian and her two helpers, along with Subject Zero, who the Illusive Man had a particular interest in.

It was eerily silent as his unit moved into engineering; not a sound, not even the humming of the drive core, and that unsettled him. He may have once served as a marine in the UNAS Marine Corps, but this kind of silence was just  _wrong._ A crew like the Normandy? It shouldn't be this quiet.

He opened the door to engineering and fired a dart at the quarian's console. But when his dart fired and impacted, it ricocheted off the unmanned terminal, the quarian missing. He frowned and three of his men split off downstairs to take care of Zero. He moved silently, edgingly, and swiftly inside. Silent, he looked right and saw Donnelly and Daniels missing as well.  _What the fuck is going on?_

He commed the Tajikistan, "Captain Nepal, this is Sand, breaking radio silence, how copy?"

"Copy, Sierra-Alfa-November-Delta. Better have a good reason for this lieutenant," the captain replied.

"Sir, Deck Four is empty," Jonathan replied, "Its a fucking ghost ship, most like. I've checked engineering, and the quarian is missing, same with both engineers. And two of my men were taken out whilst on the shuttle deck, but there's no sign of the assailant."

"Then keep searching," Nepal frustratingly replied, "What, you think they stay in scripted locations all-day? Are you that moronic? Of course they move around the ship you idiot!"

Jonathan nodded, sighing, "Aye aye sir. We'll keep searching. I'll update you on our progress."

"See that its good news," Nepal replied before switching off the comm.

Fuming, he moved back outside, signalling the three men with him to follow. As they did, they found the other three already back from below decks, but hadn't found Zero.  _Jesus-motherfucking-Christ. These people want to play hide-and-seek do they? That's fine; I'll play. But I'm going to fucking win._

All seven of them moved out and through the doorway into the main hallway. He was about to demand a status update from both fireteams sent to secure the flanking rooms, but heard the door slide open to garbage disposal. All seven turned, weapons raised. There was nothing for a second and they slowly began to lower their weapons, but that was until the mercenary veteran, Zaeed Massani, stood framed in the doorway, holding the body of a commando by the throat.

Zaeed shook his head, no smile on his face, "You send three goddam rookies to take care of me?  _Three?_ Tell your Illusive Man I ain't goddam impressed. I'm insulted," it was then that he smiled, "But I'm not mad with you; just a little annoyed. So I've got a present for you; well,  _we do_ ," and with that, he threw the dead body at Jonathan and his men.

The body landed at their feet and Jonathan cried out as he realized there was a grenade rammed in his mouth. "Mov-!"

The grenade detonated and Jonathan's vision went red as he was thrown back. Two of his men were consumed by the blast and thrown away like ragdolls; one into a wall and the other out a window. The other five fell backwards with him, one missing a leg and screaming while the others were deafened slightly by the blast, all covered in their own gore or the gore of their former comrade.

Jonathan sat up to look Zaeed in the eyes, the mercenary moving forward with casuality. Jonathan raised his rifle and fired a dart at him, but the mercenary saw it coming and sidestepped it, the dart entering the garbage disposal room and disappearing. Jonathan barked at his men to get up and open fire on the merc and they so without objection.

"I. AM. KROGAN!" A voice bellowed from behind them and all the commandos immediately turned to face a huge krogan supersoldier who now emerged from the cargo bay, bathed in the red blood and gore of three more of Jonathan's men.  _This is suicide. We should have just gassed the ship!_

He turned back to face the mercenary, but was just in time to watch another one of his men's heads get blown off his shoulders, looking directly at their attacker from before; it was the geth, which held a widow rifle in its hands as it came to a stop by Zaeed's side. Without lowering its weapon, it spoke, "This attack on the Normandy-collective was a strategically illogical allocation of Cerberus logistics."

Jonathan growled and turned to see two of his men trying to flee only to run into the krogan and quickly run back. But as they did, they ran into a wave of purple patterns. She ducked a shot from the commando's rifle and grabbed the man's rifle, ripping it from his hands. She immediately let go and whacked him over the head with the butt of her shotgun before firing a bolt of plasma into the other's chest. With all his men down, the quarian turned around, and was revealed to be none other than the bitch herself.

"Tali'Zorah vas Neema," Jonathan growled, moving to raise his weapon, knowing the futility of the gesture, "You should have stayed on your pig sty of a fleet."

Zaeed grabbed him from behind and ripped the weapon from his grip. Jonathan quickly found himself forced to his knees by the geth, the Cerberus commando unable to resist the geth's powerful machine grip. He looked up at the quarian engineer, who now squatted next to him, shotgun infront of her.

Her voice was venom, "Tali'Zorah  _vas Normandy._ And you just messed with the wrong ship, Cerberus bosh'tet. Knock him out Zaeed. I'm sure Marcus will have questions for him when he finishes this charade."

Jonathan growled one last time as Zaeed hit him across the face with the butt of his rifle, Jonathan's world going black as he fell to the deck.  _There's still three more squads on the ship. Runner's bound to have Shepard under a leash now. She'll threaten to kill Shepard if they don't surrender. And if they don't, well, their ship is looking pretty vulnerable._

_Fuck these xenos. Fuck them all. Should have brought live ammo, and left a tranquilizer for Shepard._

**{Loading...}**

_October 9, 2185_

_0811 hours._

_Captain's Quarters, Normandy-Class Stealth Frigate Normandy SR-2, Disabled around Omega 4 Relay._

_Chief Warrant Officer Tiana Runner._

Her prize; at last. Any other stupid woman would drool at the sight of Commander Shepard's doors, but she simply saw an opportunity to tag Shepard and claim the credit all for herself. Maybe she'd get a transfer from Lieutenant Dickhead's platoon. The man was barely command material, and he'd be prone to anger. Ex-marine or not, he was not suited for the task. Runner however? Maybe she could.

Her squad's engineer began hacking the door, ready to open it on her orders. She loaded a tranquilizer into the firing chamber of her vindicator and prepare to storm the quarters. Finally, when the engineer got the door open, she rushed in first, two of her men flanking her. She didn't make a single verbal sound; just moving forward, ready to get the bastard. Maybe tag him as he's sleeping? That'd make a-"

She stopped suddenly, lowering her weapon and her face creasing in disappointment. He wasn't in his bed sleeping and from what she could see, he wasn't on his couch either. She turned to his desk, and saw he wasn't there either and quickly checked the shower cubicle; nothing there either. She cursed at herself and moved back into the room seperating the elevator shaft from the Captain's Quarters.

"He's not here LT," she reported, moving down the ladder, "We're heading to deck three, over."

No response. She frowned, comming again, "LT, report."

Still nothing, "This isn't friggin funny, sir. Are you still butthurt over me calling you Lieutenant Dickhead? Seriously? Grow some fucking balls; it was a joke. Quit trying to be a hardass and just give me a simple sitrep."

No response. She didn't like this. Jonathan Sand wasn't a hardened man; apply the pressure a little, and he'd crack, but she wasn't getting anything. She checked her HUD, and saw his IFF, along with all of fourth squad, were pinged KIA. Except Sand, who appeared to be listed as WIA.  _Dead? All of them? All except Sand? How the fuck...I thought we caught the fuckers by surprise! How could this happen?_

She radioed second squad on the CIC to be ready for any enemy activity and to start transporting the crew onto the ship before they wake up. If they couldn't have the whole crew, they'd at least take some of them. After a while of ladder climbing, they reached the Crew Deck door and forced it open, Runner going first and landing on the deck, weapon arched upwards. She rolled her eyes at the sight of a blood smeared wall infront of her; a dead body to accompany it. And it wasn't the enemy's.  _Do all these morons not know the essence of stealth?_

She motioned four of her men to flank right and take out the thief while the rest of them dealt with the justicar. But, too their surprise, they found the door already open and one of the commandos tossed across the sofa like an unwanted toy. Another one had been thrown against a wall and a third against an upturned chair. But no asari justicar was to be found.

She turned back around after hearing a creak, but saw nothing. Tightening her grip, she motioned for her men to keep going, and the four sent to acquire returned, stating they couldn't find Goto. They checked Life Support, but found nothing there either. The assassin was nowhere to be found.

They quickly moved into the Mess Hall, and saw that the medical bay windows were tinted and that the hall was basically ended. She wanted to capture the Cerberus traitor herself, but when she checked, the XO's quarters were empty too.

"Ma'am, where's Allers?" One of her men asked and she turned and indeed, Allers was missing.

"I don't know," Runner responded, looking at the med bay, "But we keep moving and secure the medical bay; those windows are tinted for a reason."

They moved to open the door but were beaten to it as it slid open and a roar of assault rifle fire took three of her men full on and down. She roared and charged into the doorway, seeing a turian, most of the crew, Zero, the justicar, the assassin, the XO and...Shepard.

Shepard looked at her and let off a burst from his pistol, the weapon taking down her shields in a few shots. With a curse, she leapt behind cover and ordered her men to retaliate. But saw that there was no point, as now half of her squad was now spotanteously dead.  _I don't know..._

Another one of her men fell before her eyes; slit throat by seemingly nothing. Runner saw a shimmer and immediately recognized what it was.  _Tactical cloak. The thief. Yeah, why didn't_ _ **we**_ _use tactical cloaks, huh?_ She took aim with her weapon at the shimmer and fired, the dart stopping in mid-air, followed by a feminine gasp. Bingo.

The dart angled downwards to show the target had fallen. Upon hitting the ground, her cloak evaporated around her, revealing the hooded, unconscious form of Kasumi Goto. She smiled, but didn't get to celebrate her victory for long as she noticed the enemy had moved out of the bay, taken out the rest of her team and were turning to her to finish the job.

She took aim with her weapon, preparing to fire at Zero, smiling smugly at Shepard all the way, "Go ahead and kill me; you've lost. Our final squad is in the CIC now, and we've got your pilot, Mr. Taylor and Mr. Alenko, along with that suit-rat and her salarian appeaser. So kill me if you want; but in the end, we still get a nice chunk of your crew."

Shepard merely smiled, as if pitying her. It was Jack who spoke first, "This Cerberus whore must be as stupid as she looks."

Runner looked at her with hatred, "Coming from the one who wears nothing but leather straps for a bra, I feel pretty safe. And its not stupid to know the facts."

"Making you stupid," Garrus pointed out, smiling.

"What the fuck are you on about?" Runner hissed.

Shepard stepped up to her, shaking his head before hitting the comms, "Tali, have you secured the CIC?"

"That we have," the quarian responded causing Runner's grin to fall, "Joker's just waking up and Lia's going to get a fever from the dart, but everyone's fine. We've got a prisoner too. Tag says his name is 'Jonathan Sand?'"

 _Couldn't just die, could you Lieutenant Dickhead?_ She looked at Shepard with continued hate as the commander just backed away. With a sigh, he nodded and disconnected the comms, "Let me put this straight, whoever you are. Your EMP may have crippled us, but its kinda redundant when you  _dock_ with us. You see, we have an AI, which means she's smarter than your average VI. And with a geth onboard, that only helps things. So while you were trying to take our crew by surprise, EDI has just been so casually draining power from your ship to power our systems. EDI, status?"

"One minute to full restoration of power commander," the AI reported, "Drive core is online and weapons powered up. I have masked their signature from the Tajikistan to avoid alerting them, as I have masked our power seepage. VIs are easily fooled; as is this one. Legion has tricked it into thinking its the EMP main gun of the ship discharging."

Shepard nodded, "So once our power is back up, EDI is going to reduce that frigate too a smoldering wreck in the middle of space. You know, I would have at least wanted two days of breathing air before Cerberus decided to run up and slap me; but it seems TIM is just too impatient. Well, I'm about to show him what it means to be impatient. You are relieved, Warrant Officer Runner."

With that, he raised his pistol and fired a shot directly into Runner's forehead, killing her instantly.

**{Loading...}**

_October 9, 2185_

_0817 hours._

_Main Bridge, Brussels-Class Stealth Frigate CAW Tajikistan, Docked with Normandy SR-2._

_Captain Andrew Nepal._

What the fuck is taking Sand so long?

"Contact Sand," Nepal ordered Emilio, "I want a status update right now. If he doesn't, I'll arrange an appointment with him and the Illusive Man's dog, Leng. That should be motivation enough."

Emilio nodded, returning to his duties while Nepal examined the situation. Sand had broken radio silence like, what, seventeen minutes go? 'round about? All to tell him that they weren't where they were  _meant_ to be, the bloody moron. And now, seventeen minutes later, not so much as an update? And didn't Runner's men say they were bringing the first batch of prisoners onboard? Where the hell were they?

He tapped his fingers impatiently on his chair before turnin to Emilio, "Well, have you frigging got him?"

"I can't seem to get him to respond sir," Emilio reported, "Noone's responding. Runner, Sand, all units under them; they've all gone silent. Something isn't right."

"Yes, thanks for that brilliant deduction Sherlock," Nepal shook his head, looking out at the stars.  _Give me the Normandy and I'll give you command of the Elbrus. I'll give you my flagship, Nepal._ He turned back to Emilio, "Hack into their hardsuit heartrate monitors; give me a fitrep on 'em."

Emilio did as ordered and slowly turned around, "Sir, all their hardsuit monitors ping as KIA, all except for Sand, who's listed as unconscious or in comatose state. This could explain why they're not-"

 **"** _ **Do you exist to purely point out the obvious!?**_ **"** Nepal boomed, causing Emilio to flinch in his seat, "You don't think I can't figure that out!? I don't want the obvious, Emilio,  _I want friggin answers!_ Fetch me answers!"

Yvette's voice came into his ear from below, "Sir, the Normandy...they've just disengaged dock. They're breaking off and their power is...fully restored."

"How the hell...?" Nepal asked, "How did they restore power?"

"I don't know sir," Yvette answered honestly, "The VI told me the Normandy was completely disabled."

He sighed, turning to look up at the ceiling, "VI, what is the state of the Normandy?"

"Disabled."

He shook his head, unclipped his pistol and shot at the pedestal that served as the VI's voice control, "Piece of shit; never trust a machine to do a human's job. They tricked the VI; I don't know how, but that doesn't matter now. I want the EMP emitter primed and ready to fire. Dante, Yvette bring us around and Dante, prepare to fire."

"We can't sir!" Yvette slammed at her console, panicking, "The drive core...sir, someone has made an energy exchange."

He quickly made the connections in his head, "Fuck! The Normandy's AI...should have known an EMP wouldn't disable it. It must have sapped power from the ship to power it and in the process, took all our energy. What's the status on the ship?"

"Drive core is offline," Emilio reported, "Kinetic Barriers Disabled. Weapons Disabled. Main Power is at 15 percent efficiency. Sir, we're dead in the water."

He whacked Emilio over the forehead with the butt of his pistol, "Sick of hearing what I already know," he stood back to his command chair, "Status on the Normandy?"

"Turning around to bear on us sir," Yvette reported, tears in her eyes, "It looks about ready to open fire."

He threw Emilio out of his seat, sending a message to the Illusive Man telling him that they had failed; the Normandy was still in Shepard's hands. With a sigh, he sent the message and looked back out at the Normandy, who had now deployed their thanix cannon. He looked around the stealth frigate bearing down on them; bearing Cerberus logos, yet firing on them all the same. The Tajikistan was a fine ship, but the Elbrus would have been finer.

As the azure light of the thanix cannon firing blinded him, he could only think of one thing that would be worth remembering in that moment; the stars truly looked beautiful today.

_**A/N:** _

_**A teaser of sorts; couldn't resist. As for that secret fanfic; I'm still working on it. And no, its not a To Survive continuation. I hope you understand that no matter how many of you enjoyed it, it was a sorry attempt at trying to continue an excellent trilogy and a botched attempt at my own closure with its abrupt ending. I hope you understand that I will only be keeping it up to serve as a reminder, not because I'm proud of it. The first couple of chapters were chapters I could never hope to replicate ever again (they were brilliant in my opinion) but the rest...was questionable.** _

_**That leaves two options; a possible continuation of Jacob and Friends, or the revival of HICH.** _


	2. Chill Out

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Illusive Man ponders an alliance with the Shadow Broker to take down Shepard. The Normandy runs inventory of what they have left following the Collector Base's destruction.

**REQUIEM**

**CHAPTER ONE:**

**CHILL OUT**

_October 9, 2185_

_0820 hours._

_Cockpit, Normandy-Class Stealth Frigate Normandy SR-2, In Orbit around Omega 4 Relay._

_Commander Marcus Lee Shepard, Flight Lieutenant Jeff 'Joker' Moreau._

Marcus stood and watched as the thanix cannon slammed into the head of the frigate, hitting its bridge first and completely obliderating it. Once the entire forward bow of the ship had been vaporized, the thanix ate through the rest of the vessel and quickly exited out the other end; done feasting on the Cerberus warship in mere seconds, having torn it clean in half, leaving the ship a dead bulk in space.

Molten debris shot apart in all directions; a large section of hull even hitting the relay. Of course, the relay was basically indestructible, so the hull broke apart on impact, not even leaving a dent on the pronged transporter device. Marcus watched with interest as the frigate just floated away, a threat reduced to nothing in the matter of a single shot. The thanix cannon had been vital in destroying the collector cruiser; a vessel of unimaginable firepower, only matched by the Reapers themselves, and it had been destroyed in two shots. Reaper weaponry was unparalelled in those terms. Turian military scientists must be rolling in their graves right now, knowing such a weapon exists and hierarchy warships aren't equipped with it.

Marcus nodded, "EDI, any survivors? Escape pods, further vessels, anything?"

The AI was quick to respond, as always. When he first met the AI a couple of months ago; when he had first taken command of the new, rebuilt Normandy and begun his mission to stop the collectors from abducting human colonies, he had understandably mistrusted her. The Eden Prime War, even though having concluded in victory two years ago, was still a fresh wound on alot of people's minds, and it didn't help that an AI was in a ship that the crew believed to be their home. He had been skeptical.

But as the mission went on, and he spoke more and more with EDI, he had opened up and begun to stop feeling so restricted and felt one thing around it. Trust. It wasn't even an 'it', to the crew anymore. The voice made sure it was known as a 'her' now, which was a big step for the AI. And when the Collectors lured them into a trap and abducted the crew, EDI had saved Joker from a similiar fate and managed to help them escape, cementing their relationship for a while to come.

"My scanners have picked up nothing worth of note or threat," EDI replied, "No escape pods have been detected, and if Cerberus had reinforcements, they most likely would have attempted to attack us by now."

"They've gotten bold. That's for sure," Marcus stated, giving Joker a look, "We've seen Cerberus ships before; they're nowhere near being even on the level of an obsolete turian  _corvette._ Just mostly freighters retrofitted with a few cannons and passed off as a warship. But this ship had an EMP emitter; and kinetic barriers. Not to mention a friggin stealth drive. And then he sent it to attack the  _Normandy_. I know the Illusive Man to be smart and patient, not to mention conservative. This attack was too stupid, especially for him."

"The Illusive Man has been known to make mistakes in the past," Miranda stated, walking up behind. The Cerberus operative had once been TIM's right-hand woman and one of his most loyal agents, not to mention a pain in Marcus' ass. But as the mission went on, Miranda became more and more loyal to Marcus, losing faith in Cerberus after the incident on the collector cruiser and eventually defecting to Shepard in the end. Her ego hadn't died with her allegiance, however, "The stealth drive on the Normandy was most likely a prototype for further versions. This frigate was possibly the first of many. TIM was always ambitious, but this ship was definitely improved. Last I heard was that he was even planning on building a proper fleet based on Alliance schematics. Dreadnought scale, even."

Marcus scoffed, "That's too ambitious, even for him, and you know it Miranda. What he wants to do would put him on the military scale of the Systems Alliance, and it took them decades to reach their place."

"...after only discovering the technology," Miranda finished for him, "But Cerberus already has the technology, the people and the space stations to do it. Walker Station was only one of many drydocks discreetly hidden throughout the galaxy. If the Illusive Man wants a fleet, he'll have one."

"For what purpose?"

"I doubt he's building an entire fleet just to get you back," Miranda pointed out, "He's most likely doing it to prepare for the coming Reaper threat; which of course, is now closer than ever."

"That's his one redeeming quality," Marcus declared, "That he wants to help stop the Reapers, and he can do that. I would be all ears if he'd just drop the act and get in line behind me, but he's decided that I should follow him or its every man for himself. He may pretend that he's not like most politicians but deep down and below his little act, you can see the roots of it. He may try to hide it, but I can see it. He's not as enigmatic as he seems to think."

"So what now?" Joker asked.

"We set a course for the Citadel," Marcus declared, "I've got to explain this shit to the Council and tell them, once again, that we've just done their crap for them and that they rest easy knowing I've severed all ties with Cerberus. And I'll speak to Anderson about taking out Walker Station. Or at least occupying it. EDI, still got the coordinates?"

"I do, commander," EDI replied, sounding smug, but he shrugged it off as imagination.

"Good. When I meet with Anderson, I'm going to request a joint meeting with Hackett and, if I can push my luck, get Garrong in there too and we'll discuss the Alliance's plans to check Cerberus. Starting with giving the coordinates of Walker Station to Hackett. A little Alliance raid. Garrong is major anti-Cerberus man and would listen to what I have to propose."

"You want to check the Illusive Man's movements?" Miranda asked incredulously, arms crossed, "He's preparing to fight the Reapers, and you want to attack one of his stations?"

" _One_ ," Marcus lifted a single finger, "One station taken from his grip. But if I can get the Alliance to check enough of Cerberus' movements, TIM should eventually get tired of it and look for exit strategies. But that point, he'll know I'm responsible and look for a way to stop this madness. I'll tell him, unconditionally, to work with us or the Alliance will bring Cerberus down. He has no choice but to agree."

"A sound idea, but this is the Illusive Man we're talking about," Joker told him, spinning his chair around, "You'd have better luck trying to convince a quarian to work with a geth."

Marcus arched a brow at the pilot and grinned. Joker grinned with him before turning to Miranda. The Ex-Cerberus operative sighed and rolled her eyes, turning back to Marcus, "Let's hope it works; we may not like Cerberus, but they're at least getting ready for the Reapers. The rest of the galaxy might as well be sitting on their asses."

"That'll change soon if I have anything to say about it," he turned back to the cockpit, "EDI, you still have the information you and Legion gleaned from the Collector Base?"

"Indeed I do commander," the AI replied, "I have even downloaded schematics of the Human-Reaper for representation."

Marcus shuddered at that memory. The battle with the abomination they had come to call the Human-Reaper hadn't been long, and had been ended with the impact of a simple mini-nuclear device called the M-920 Cain. But the very thought of it existing; how it was created using the melted remains of human bodies and how the Reapers had shaped it in human form...it was a memory that would stay with him forever. But it was gone...as was the Collectors, and their hideous base of horrors.

"Yes. That...abomination does need to be brought up if we're going to prove the Reaper threat is real," Marcus declared, turning to leave the bridge, motioning for Miranda to follow, "Head for the Citadel with best speed; I'm also going to request repairs upon our landing there; those repairs are heavily needed. Can't go flying around like this."

With that, he marched off down the flight deck, Miranda quick behind him. He nodded at the crew that he passed; all of them still heavily traumatized over what had passed. The crew had been abducted by the collectors prior to the final assault, but he had rescued all of them, including Chakwas, Kelly and Lia. But as he passed the yeoman on his way to the elevator, smiling as he did, he noticed the smile on Kelly's features did not reach her eyes.

 _She was the worst hit out of all of them. Chakwas is traumatized, but she's quickly recovering and Lia still has recurring nightmares, but Mordin is helping her get through them by working in the lab. Gardner seems barely fazed and Ken and Gabby seem to be their usual cheery selves. But Kelly...I don't know if she'll ever recover._ And as he entered the elevator, Miranda quickly joining him, hitting the button for deck four, he made a note to console her later.  _Funny. The psychologist needs the psyche evaluation._

In the silence of the elevator's descent, he turned to Miranda, "How's our prisoner holding up?"

"Good...in a sense of the word," Miranda smirked, "He's been thrashing around a bit, tried to escape once. If you see a bruise on his forehead, along with one on the back of his head, you can blame Zaeed. We did post him to guard the prisoner anyway."

Marcus managed a small grin as the elevator came to a stop and the door opened. He sighed as he stepped out and once again noticed the broken windows of the corridor, including the newly broken ones that some of the commandos fallen out of to their deaths. He also looked at the huge scorch mark that trailed along the wall to his left. It had been caused by an oculus drone that infiltrated the ship during the attack; but Tali had taken a team and dealt with. But, the bright side was that the scorch mark had made it so one less Cerberus insignia could be seen.

 _Once we're in port, it'll be the Cerberus logos I get rid of first. I won't fly under Cerberus banners anymore._ With a sigh, he straightened his stance and resisted the urge to check into engineering.  _Tali will be fine,_ he kept telling himself, but ever since she had shared herself with him before the assault on the collector base, she had been showing intense signs of fever, and he wanted to know if she was suffering from it.  _Don't be foolish. She had the same reaction on the base, and she came out just fine. Quit worrying._

Miranda and himself palmed the door into the garbage disposal open and stepped inside. They saw that the room looked much the same; benches with Zaeed's trinkets on them with the same grey steel walls and a garbage compactor at the back of the room. In the middle however now was one chair; occupying it was Jonathan Sand, former Cerberus commando gone captive. He had been stripped of his armor and weapons of course and given some clothes; but apparently Zaeed wished to torture the man; he wore nothing but underpants while cuffed to the chair. A jest on Zaeed's part, obviously.

Another chair leaned against the wall on two legs infront of them; Zaeed occupying it. He cradled jessie in his lap while he slept; his guttural snores almost being enough to outdo a pig. He was meant to be watching the commando, not sleeping on it, but Marcus couldn't blame him. The entire battle had been exhausting, having to cover ninety kilometers of space station while fighting constant waves of hostiles. Even the most feared bounty hunter in the galaxy was exhausted. But of the squad, Zaeed, surprisingly, had been the least wounded out of all of them. A minor concussion and a bullet wound in the hip, but that was it. The mercenary had done well for himself.

Jonathan was asleep as well; eyes closed. Miranda immediately noticed the large bruise on his forehead; along with his matted black hair. His lips were crossed and heavily drawn; a very easily angered man, it would seem. He wasn't heavily muscled either; he looked more like a couch slob than he did a heavily-trained commando. No muscles to be seen aside from a few stand-offish veins popping out along his arms and legs.

Marcus sighed and motioned for Miranda to wake Zaeed up; tired or not, he was sleeping on the job. Marcus stood, arms crossed and watching Jonathan while Miranda grabbed Zaeed's chair and forcefully pulled it back onto solid ground, causing Zaeed to almost rocket out of his chair.

The mercenary immediately sat up, eyes groggy as he wiped at them. Once done, he noticed Miranda and cursed under his breath, "What do you goddam want woman? I'm trying to sleep here!"

"You're meant to be guarding him. Not sleeping," Miranda chastised.

Zaeed rolled his eyes and looked at the prisoner, "The man's sleeping like a little baby; what's there to guard? You should both know that a baby can't break omni-cuffs."

Marcus shook his head before turning back to John and raising his omni-tool. With a single flick of his wrist, the omni-cuffs binding the man disengaged and deactivated, allowing him free movement, but he still hadn't woken. Miranda gave him a quizzical look, but it quickly vanished when Marcus raised his shirt, revealing a magnetic holster attached to the side of his pants and holding a carnifex hand cannon. He then dropped the shirt and turned back to John. With a sigh, he grabbed Zaeed's nearby drink bottle, opened the top and poured it over John's head.

The captive woke with a start, the cold water dripping down his face and down his chest, drenching his hair along with the light stubble on his chin. He gasped as he took in his surroundings, surprised he can suddenly move. He jumped up, obviously not acknowledging the situation, trying to run. But Marcus grabbed him by the shoulders and threw him back down, "Try and escape again, and I will rebind you."

Jonathan finally came to his senses, wiped his face with his hands before looking up at Marcus, a sneer on his face, "I see you kept me alive. Should have killed me."

"Should I have?" Marcus asked, mock curiosity in his tone, "I don't think so. I need you to answer some questions for me before I hand you over to C-Sec. A man like you will be very useful to the Citadel's efforts to keep Cerberus in check."

"Are you fucking stupid enough to think I'd betray the Illusive Man?" Jonathan spat, the sneer never leaving his lips, "I'd die for him if I had to. I'll never betray my patriotic duty."

"I sure hope your patriotic duty didn't revolve around capturing me and my crew to get a promote, because you'd be out of a job," Marcus said, moving to circle Jonathan's chair, "Tell me Mr. Sand, do you really think the Illusive Man will send men to rescue you?"

"Of course he will," Jonathan boldy stated, giving Miranda a cold look, "And he'll make sure you all suffer for your treachery; Cerberus remembers. Always have. We'll get Jacob Taylor...and you Miss Lawson. You'll die; just like all traitors do. A certain scientist by the name of Wilson learnt that."

"Yes, Wilson learnt that because  _I_ taught him so," Miranda replied, remaining at the back, "And if you think he's going to send men just to rescue you, then you must be a rookie, but I've never known the Illusive Man to save men who are collateral damage.  _He terminates them,_ Sand."

"You try to fill my head with lies," Jonathan snapped, looking around at the three of them, "All of you, lying. All I see is two traitors and a mercenary who would sell you all out for good dealing of credits."

Marcus turned the chair around to face him and leaned in so his face was inches from Jonathan's, " _Two_ traitors, Sand? Last I checked; I never swore allegiance to Cerberus or its goals. I'm not betraying them, merely finishing my contract. I consider myself a mercenary in that regard; I do something for them, or in my case,  _with_ them, then I leave when my contract is terminated. Simple as that."

"I couldn't care less about you leaving Cerberus," Jonathan growled, seemingly perputually full of anger, "You betrayed your entire  _species_. That makes you a traitor in my eyes. You name a turian your brother and welcome a suit-rat into your bed; you defile the very name of the species you call yourself by."

Marcus resisted the urge to punch him, "I betrayed noone; tell me, if I were to help a Englishman cross a river, would I be a traitor to Israel? No, I wouldn't. This galaxy has to stand united if we're going to destroy the Reapers, and Cerberus' pathetic racial prejudices isn't going to help."

"Tell me, does her moaning help you fight the Reapers?"

This time, he did punch Jonathan, and he punched him hard. Jonathan's head twisted to the left violently, and for a second Marcus thought the strike had broken his neck, but his head quickly turned back around, blood oozing from a broken nose. He spat blood in Marcus' face, snarling as he did. Marcus shook his head and moved to leave, "Had enough have you!? Gone to fuck her? Go on; I'll be right here you xenophilic traitor!"

"Zaeed," Marcus stopped, turning to the placid mercenary, "Gag this son of a bitch. His insults make me want to do it myself, but I don't think I'd earn much from it. I'm sure you'll enjoy it though," Zaeed nodded, moving over to Jonathan with a smile while Marcus left, Miranda behind him.

"Commander," Miranda spoke from behind him and he sighed as he hit the button to summon the elevator.

"I know Miranda," he told her without turning around, "I'm an idiot for doing that; I don't even know what I went in there to do really. Interrogate him? Torture him? Get information from him? I just don't know."

"That's all well and nice," Miranda told him, standing next to him, "But what I was going to say is that you've got some blood on your face."

He laughed then; it started as a snort and turned into laughter as he wiped the blood from his face and flicked it onto the steel floor, still grinning when he turned to Miranda, "Thanks Miranda...don't think the crew would be comfortable with me leading them, with blood all over my face."

His XO smirked, "I don't know; it would look very intimidating. You really should try the whole renegade pose'; you'd do it well."

"Sorry, I'm the perfect paragon," Marcus stated overexaggeratedly waving his arms dramatically, "Besides, I'm sure you'd make the perfect renegade; you know,  _being_ perfect and all."

"Yes I am," Miranda stated firmly, "The perfect woman; don't you doubt it. I'm still available, if you're interested."

"You're very attractive Miranda, I'll admit it," Marcus told her, giving her a bare glance, "But I've given myself to Tali and  _only_ Tali. And as good as you are, I'm starting to believe Miss vas Normandy is closer to perfection than you are."

"Great, our hero appears to be a prince charming. Roll in with the cliches why don't we," Miranda smiled, "And since when was it 'Miss vas Normandy?'"

To his credit, Marcus blushed slightly, but quickly recovered, "Since I decided her first name wasn't good enough; repeating it gets boring after awhile. Allow myself some variety, you know?" He looked back at the still closed elevator, "Fuck sake these elevators are  _slow._ Should be here by now."

Right on que, the door opened and Miranda stepped inside. Just as Marcus was about to however...well all the talk of Tali had made him long to see her, and they weren't really doing anything important right now; the actual repairs would start upon arrival at the Citadel, so...

"Commander?" Miranda asked, back in her all business mood.

"I won't be taking the elevator Miranda," Marcus decided, turning to engineering, "I'll see you on the cockpit later on."

With that, he took off into engineering, deciding to enter through the right so he could speak with Gabby and Ken first. He smiled as he entered, watching as Gabby slapped Ken on the shoulder for most likely  _another_ snarky comment he had made. He swore, if these two weren't best friends, they'd be a couple, as cliched as it sounded.

He could hear snippets of their conversation. He just stopped, deciding to wait until they were finished before interrupting. As he did, however, he saw that engineering hadn't survived the onslaught of the Normandy's crash landing either; the drive core didn't hum as loudly and sparks flew from blown consoles up above, along with a metal beam that had collapsed along the catwalk leading to the drive core itself. Engineering was definitely in a bad way. Ken wasn't even working at his console; he was working with Gabby because his had exploded and blown out.

Gabby sighed as she continued to run through her console settings and state the status of the ship, "This a big mess, Kenneth, take it seriously. Look at this; the forward tanks need to be buoyant and elevated, and for the most part they are, but they won't hold long! We seriously need to reach the Citadel soon or sooner or this ship's going to be running on fumes."

"They're supposed to be buoyant and elevated?" Ken replied with his typical, thick scottish accent, "Are you talking about the Normandy...or Miranda?" His voice lingered on Miranda's name longer than it should have, making him sound like a love sick schoolboy.

He could practically feel Gabby rolling her eyes, "I'm talking about the one that's covered and protected, not bouncing in the breeze."

He heard Tali laugh from around the corner, "She's got a point, Ken."

Ken shrugged, "I don't know. Operative Lawson's uniform is  _very_ official. It always makes me stand at attention, if ya catch me meanin."

"A drunk child could catch your meaning Ken," Gabby replied, slapping him on the shoulder again, "Now will you stop daydreaming about our XO and get back to work?"

" _Just_ the XO?" Ken replied, smiling devilishly, "How about that Jack chick, eh? I hear she wears nothing but tattooes from the waist up. I would have welcomed her aboard, but...well, ya see, I've got some stuff to do, so I never got the chance."

"Stop it. Seriously," Gabby replied.

"Oh, but I've got one more fine lass to compliment," Ken replied, snatching a look at who obviously had to be Tali, "But one more moment; the Normandy's a she right? Not a he?"

"Yeah...," Gabby trailed off.

"And EDI is a she? Tali is  _definitely_ a she," Ken trailed on.

"What are you getting at, Kenneth?" Gabby asked impatiently.

"I'm just saying that I will feel a wee bit threatened here," Ken replied, trying to look terrified, "So much female energy; its nothing but women. And I'm just one man."

"You're such a dick," Gabby replied with annoyance, turning back to her console.

Kenneth pointed his finger at her accusingly, "See! Look where your mind went. I'd better watch out for myself," he turned to Tali again, grin returning to his features, "I can't complain all that much though. I mean," he leaned closer to Gabby, whispering, "What do you think of our quarian boss?"

"Hush," Gabby tried to shut him up, "She's right over there."

"Ah," Ken scoffed, "She can't hear us with that bucket on her head. Don't get me wrong; its a beautiful bucket. The whole suit is lovely. Quite snug,  _in all the right places._ "

Marcus hid and held a chuckle as he approached, but watched as Tali beat him to the punch, stopping behind Kenneth. He examined her features and saw that she had been hard at work; her purple veil had been laid out on her console and her lithe, black suited form was covered in grease and scorch marks where she had been almost electrocuted. She looked different without the hood covering her head; almost looked weird. Her omni-tool had been active and she held a screwdriver and spanner in the same grip.

She spotted Marcus and waved at him, smiling behind the mask. She held up one finger, telling him to hang on a minute before turning to Ken, who now faced her, "Are you slacking on the job, Donnelly?" She asked, pretending to be angry.

"No ma'am I...," Ken stuttered and Marcus could tell Gabby was barely containing her mirth.

"Well, if you don't make yourself useful, you'll find your own clothing will be alot more snug when I'm done gutting you," Tali growled, slamming a screwdriver into his grip before jabbing a thump in the direction of an open vent, "I want us looking presentable when we reach the Citadel docks; not looking like a half-drunk child put this ship together. Get in that vent and deactivate any potentially dangerous panels.  _ **Get moving**_!" She ordered and Ken immediately snapped, a salute moving over to the vent, mumbling to himself.

"So many feisty women," Ken mumbled, going prone and preparing to crawl into the vent, "I'm in heaven."

Tali whorled around, kicking his feet and causing him to let out a gasp at the sudden pain shooting up his ankle, " _ **Move it!**_   _ **Flattery will not save you in my engine room! Not at all!**_ " Done yelling, Tali turned towards him and motioned for him to follow her into the drive core chamber, using a dirtied rag to wipe her gloves. Marcus nodded at Gabby as he went past and the engineer smiled back, nodding as he did.

The two of them finally met at the main drive core control console and turned to face each other, Marcus smiling, "Getting used to being chief engineer?"

Tali shook her head, leaning against the console, "I've had two months to get used to it, and I've taken mostly from Adams; he was a good teacher to me. I only learn from the best."

He smiled and took her hand, holding it in his.

Tali looked up at him and shook her head, "Just so you know...I am still running a fever and..." she raised one hand, as if to block her nose as she sneezed, "...and I've got a nasty cough..." like on que, she coughed three ragged coughs, "...and my sinuses are filled with something I cannot even begin to describe," she shot him a knowing look and then giggled. Before he knew it, she looked up, grabbed him by the belt buckle and pulled him into her embrace before she whispered into his ear, "But it was totally worth it."

Those words alone made him shiver and she smiled, kissing her on the neck. He yearned to be able to kiss her actual neck; just as he yearned to make love to her again. But he knew he musn't; he would let her recover from her fever before giving her another one and wait until she wanted it. They waited a few more seconds before reluctantly parting, but holding each other at arms length.

"So, this ship got pretty banged up, hey?" Marcus asked, gesturing at the ship. Tali nervously laughed, looking at the state of the vessel she served on.

"You can say that again," Tali replied, following the area his eyes glazed over, "Yet again, the whole ship is a mess. Garrus wants my help with a coolant leak in the gunnery station later and Kasumi is convinced she can here drilling sounds from behind the bar in the lounge; we've got our work cut out for us until we can reach the Citadel," the quarian turned to him and sagged alittle, "That means...that means we won't be seeing each other alot; at least not until night time and a few words exchanged in bed. Apart from that...I think we'll both be pretty busy until we reach the Citadel in a couple days."

"I can't see you all the time, we both know that," Marcus replied confidently, touching his forehead to her visor, "But it'll be over soon. Once we reach the Citadel and the repairs are done, it'll be business as usual, just without the collectors, just alot of politics. We'll get more time together. Another date, perhaps?"

Tali grinned, "Sounds like a date."

"Miss vas Normandy, I do believe you just punned me," Marcus replied, mockingly disappointed, "I am ashamed."

Tali's laughter echoed through the ship, "I don't know what a pun is, but I'm sure you'll tell me."

"Is that true?" Marcus asked, smiling, "Then you'll have to tell me what a bosh'tet is."

"In all due time, Marcus."

They talked for a bit longer before exchanging goodbyes and getting back to work; and Tali was right, they would have their work cut out for them.

He just hoped they got to the Citadel sooner, rather than later.

**{Loading...}**

_October 9, 2185_

_1025 hours._

_VICINITY UNKNOWN. DATA INCOMPLETE. LOCATION UNKNOWN._

_The Shadow Broker._

He was doing his job right at least; agents had been dispatched all over the galaxy to find and counter T'Soni's movements. Everything was falling into place; it was a chess board, and his pieces were quickly moving into place for a checkmate. Illium was the biggest target, and he had most of the agents dispatched there, but he wasn't going to start sending in the ground troops until it seemed the situation was out of hand; which it rarely was for the Shadow Broker.

Liara T'Soni had always hated the Shadow Broker; ever since he had 'supposedly' killed that drell lover of hers, Feron. Now the asari archaelogist turned broker seemed determined to bring down the Broker's entire network and find him. Of course, the Shadow Broker had never taken her movements seriously; he had covered his tracks well; he didn't reach this position without certainty. But now the asari was onto something; he didn't know how, but the asari had a lead, and that was a threat. She had to be eliminated.

This would be easy, had it not been for the inevitable wrath of Commander Marcus Shepard; a man the Broker had kept keen eyes on. He had heard of the man's achievements during the Eden Prime War, how he had died a month later and mysteriously returned two years later. And now, less than a couple of hours ago, her agents reported that the Normandy had returned from the Omega 4 Relay, destroyed a Cerberus stealth frigate and quickly made headway for the Citadel. He was a threat to his plan. To  _their_ plan.

Marcus Shepard didn't have brokers; but he did have Liara T'Soni has a friend, and if Liara were to find their location and bring Shepard along...that would also mean bringing Tali'Zorah along, and that would definitely interest one of them, that's for certain. They had watched over Tali'Zorah for quite awhile, that was certain.

For  _he_  wasn't the Shadow Broker. At least, he was only half of the Broker.  _She_ was the other half. Two people sharing the same role. He conducted operations, she gave the orders, while scarcely hidden away. Noone even knew she existed.

She wasn't a hateful person, but she knew a threat when she saw one. She also noticed that Cerberus agents were beginning to clash with hers, and that had to stop. The Illusive Man, she knew, had increased his network ever since the Collector defeat so he could retake the Normandy; Shepard had severed ties with Cerberus. The Shadow Broker despised Cerberus; and although her network was far superior to theirs, they were still a threat she wished gone from this galaxy. Not that she could; even she didn't know the location of their central command. The Illusive Man's location was a mystery she would never figure out. As was hers to him.

An update appeared on her terminal and she raised both her hands, typing away at it. When it was done, she looked over the information and found that T'Soni definitely had some hard on information, so she would have to act fast. She paged a communication line with one of her best agents and sent an order through the other part of the Broker for him to send to the agent to have her put on standby and sent to Illium. If Liara made any further moves, the agent would strike hard and fast.

She would also have to keep an eye on this salarian agent of Liara's; a man by the name of Sekat. Apparently he was doing data running for her and had his own band of agents; of course he did. She ran a file check on him and brought up his dossier, discovering that he used to be one of  _her_ agents before he betrayed her to Liara. He never knew the location of the Broker, but he had his suspicions. He had always evaded her, but now he was on Illium, and helping Liara no less.

That would end soon. The Shadow Broker was a merciful person when she wanted to be, but when she wasn't, she let the other half do the work. He loved disposing of agents they didn't need anymore; it was his job. And he did it well, as much as it disgusted her.

She leaned back in her chair and took the cup of coffee from her desk and placed a straw in it, inserting it into her tube and taking a long deep sip.

_She won't be a threat much longer. Now, what are you up to Tali'Zorah..._

**{Loading...}**

_October 9, 2185_

_1310 hours._

_Shuttle Bay, Normandy-Class Stealth Frigate Normandy SR-2, In FTL inbound for the Citadel._

_Subject Zero Jack._

She loved the feeling of her biotics pulsing through her; it made her feel alive and full of energy, even if it was slightly electrifying. She felt invincible whenever the feeling consumed her; a biotic powerhouse able to plow through anything and everything with a single stroke of a wrist or kick of a foot. But when she stretched her arm out and felt the fire that was the pain in her bicep, she gasped, the biotic power dying away, realizing just how vulnerable she really was.

She sighed and forced her way through the pain and shot a biotic warp forward, taking one of the crates fully and sending it flying across the bay to land at the massive blast doors. This movement only managed to amplify her pain tenfold and she bent over in pain, letting a little scream fall through her teeth, seeing as noone was around.

When around people, she was Jack, the invulnerable ticking-biotic-timebomb just waiting for someone to insult her or piss her off so she could detonate. The enigmatic woman covered in tattooes that torn apart mercenaries, Cerberus and Collectors alike. She was scared of nothing;  _feared_  nothing. She was tough; emotionless, yet her anger was omnipotent. Noone wanted to piss her off.

But when she was alone, she was the girl without a name, without a family, without someone to love her. She was scared, alone and afraid. She'd use her biotics and anger to cover up her fear and despair and whenever someone implored, she would act all tough to cover up the tears that secretly wanted to burst out of her eyes. She wasn't a biotic powerhouse; she was a biotic powerhouse fuelled by a deadly maelstrom of melancholy and vehemence. A hybrid substance so reactive, she might as well be francium.

Secretly, when noone was looking, she would try to remember her mother and father's face during her time living on Eden Prime, but couldn't even remember that. She had brother at one point, but couldn't remember that either. She could even remember her captive's faces. She had had hair once, a brown haired ponytail, but that was gone; leaving her plain bald and covered in tattooes. She wasn't who she pretended to be. Sometimes, she would even cry herself to sleep.

She tried to throw another warp, but this time her body gave into the pain and she collapsed against the bulkhead, sliding to the floor to land on her ass with a thump. She felt a tear streak down her cheek, but she quickly wiped it away.  _Noone has ever given a shit about me. They'll either use me for sex, money or simply because I'm a powerful biotic bitch. Even the crew doesn't know what to think of me; should they be scared? Or would they like to fuck me? Oh, and I admit, I fucking love it. Sex is fucking fantastic. And that's just it; should I be enjoying it? I love it, and then afterwards I complain about how they used me to get into my cunt. Am I retarded, or do I complain for the sake of complaining?_

The only people she ever saw out of combat was Tali, Shepard, Gardner and the occassional person in the mess hall. She talked to Zaeed more often then she'd admit, but that was only because they shared similiar views on life. The quarian had balls, she'd admit that; Jack would tell her to piss off and the quarian would ask her to calm down and whenever Jack threatened to gut her, Tali would reply with; 'I'm an engineer. Come anywhere near me, and I could send a current barelling towards at 30,000 volts a second. You'd never get your biotics up. So go ahead, try and kill me' before disappearing into a vent. And all the while, Jack would just smirk.

Then there was Shepard; the king of the boy scouts. Damn the man. He would always take the time to come and see her and talk to her when noone else would. Of course, he didn't see anyone as much as he saw Tali; they were impractically inseperable, but Shepard  _cared._ She had even offered him sex once, but he countered with 'I'm in a relationship and you can't just fuck your way out of everything.' She was both disappointed and happy for his rejection. Someone gave a fuck.

And as much as it frightened her and excited her and disgusted her, she actually had  _feelings_ for him. Did she love him? Fuck no, but she felt something for him. Something that got her hormones pulsing whenever he was near. Sometimes she would try and hug him and cry on his shoulder, but he was always gone before she broke like that. Jack knew she didn't have a chance with him; he was far too loyal to Tali'Zorah vas Normandy; the quarian who definitely deserved him.

With a sigh, she stood up steadily and was moving to continue her self-training when the elevator door opened. She turned around and rolled her eyes when she saw the asari justicar, Samara, step out and look at her, expressionless gaze seeming to read right through her.  _God she's annoying; all righteous and crap. Makes the cheerleader seem just barely tolerable._

"Jack," Samara greeted, "I see you have been hard at work."

"Of course I have," That was Jack speaking, not the child, "Nothing else to do, and the queen of engineering seems to think I'm just in the way, so why the fuck don't I do something? I'm no tech; not like I can help with anything. Don't even know why I'm here, actually. Could have left already. Maybe I'll leave when we reach the Citadel."

"But you won't, because you know you'll have nowhere to go," Samara replied, hands clasped behind her back and examining the scene before her, words subjective to hundreds of years of living, learning and fighting, "Cerberus will never stop hunting you and if you return to the normal world, you'd just have to deal with what you've dealt with before. A repetitive lifestyle. At least here, you have a purpose. An enemy we all share."

"Yeah yeah, whatever princess. I think I'll keep my inner problems to myself from now on," Jack replied, kicking a crate biotically before turning back to the justicar, "Any particular reason you're here? Or are you here to teach me whoopty-fucking-do-dah?"

"I came here to examine your fighting techniques," the justicar replied cooly, barely fazed by Jack's harshness, "It is effective, yet savage and disjointed. It has no form; no organization to it. You rely solely on brute force to crush your foes, but have no continegency for when you're on the defensive."

"So fucking what?" Jack snapped, "Are you going to teach me?"

"If you'd like," Samara replied, "I find myself much in the same position as you. Meditation can only do much for me; silence is what I require, noise is what I am delivered. The sounds of repairs are not the envirnoment for the soothing of the soul. I believe training for us is a mutual task. However, I could teach you many things. You are a powerful biotic, but your power is disjointed and used recklessly. Should you be taught to use it adequently; then maybe you can harness your power. I would help you do this, if you would allow me the pleasure of doing so."

"You're helping a wanted criminal?" Jack asked incredulously, plopping herself down on one of the flight control consoles in the bay, "Doesn't that go against your code or some shit?"

"In many cases, you'd be correct," Samara told her, "But the code allows for contradictions. For example; a criminal who has recently done a good deed so great in scope that it absolves them of all their past activities is considered worthy of leniency. This makes it so you are absolved of any crimes in sight of the code. In this matter, I do not take any action against you."

"Sure, whatever," the biotic replied, "Well...if you're going to teach me, you might as well try now."

Samara raised an eyebrow, "You are currently injured; we should start with how to use your biotics while injured."

"I know how to-" Jack began to object.

"You do not," Samara replied sternly, "Do not think I'm fooled by the disguise you have assembled. You are troubled, frightened and your life is full of horror. I have never had the chance to experience fear, but I have experienced many horrors in my life. I am not asking you to show me your true self, merely to quit pretending."

"Good, because it's none of your fucking business," Jack replied harshly before turning to the bay, "Do we begin or what?"

Samara merely nodded and they moved into the center of the bay, Jack taking the end and Samara taking the side with the elevator. Jack sighed heavily as Samara unclasped her hands from behind her back and faced Jack, pulsing with biotic energy. Jack quickly followed.

"You must learn to control yourself," Samara dictated, "You must-"

Jack roared and shot a biotic warp at the asari rapidly. To her surprise, the asari saw it coming and deflected the shot easily before sending a shockwave in her direction. Jack easily leapt over it, but quickly discovered it for a trap and was hit full in the face by another shockwave. She was thrown to the ground and before she could get up, Samara seemed to use her biotics to teleport infront of the convict, foot firmly positioned ontop of her throat and pressing down to keep her there. Jack growled.

Samara shook her head, "This is why you must control yourself. Your actions are predictable; easily countered if fighting the right enemy. A mercenary may be fooled, but a commando will not be."

"How the fuck did you do that?" Jack asked, "That teleporting shit."

"It is an ancient technique learnt by only the most well-tempered of asari. Many other races have attempted it, and some have succeeded," the justicar informed her, releasing her boot from Jack's neck, "And it is not teleportation, literally speaking. It involves utilizing your biotics to make yourself a weightless object before projecting yourself much like a bullet discharging from a gun. The effect is fast enough that it looks like teleporation. We asari call the technique 'Biotic Leap,' or simply 'biotic jumping.'"

"Can I learn it?" Jack asked, "That seems like some sick shit."

"As I have said before, it can only be learned by the most well-tempered of students," Samara declared, moving back to her original position, "You must learn to control yourself first; biotic leap requires tolerance and a huge amount of patience. It is not an easy technique to learn."

Jack groaned as she got to her feet, wincing at her side. Samara's counterattacks had really winded her, "How long will that take?"

"As long as it takes for you to learn," Samara replied, turning to face her again, "Asari learn quickly, but you are human. You are very much different and all different again in genetic, mental and physical diversity. You all have different learning curves. I must see yours first before we hope to change you. Evolve you."

Jack simply smiled as she stepped back into a 'neutral position'; two feet beside each other and hands clasped at her sides. She then bowed deeply before returning to a fighting stance, shit-eating grin still on her face, "Whatever you say, sensei."

"Sensei?" Samara asked, confused, "I do not recognize the term."

"It means 'person born before another' in Japanese," said a voice from near by that Jack recognized she turned to the source with frustration, watching the form of Kasumi decloak.  _Why did she have to wake up from that tranquilizer?_ Kasumi simply grinned, "But it can also be used as a meaning for 'teacher', as its found in many martial arts."

"I see," Samara replied, turning back to Jack, a simple smile on her face, "Then, we shall begin our lesson...young student."

**{Loading...}**

_October 9, 2185_

_1502 hours._

_'Humanity's Sanctum', Upper Levels, Cronos Station, Anadius System._

_The Illusive Man, First Lieutenant Geoff Dielheart._

"Has there been an update from the Tajikistan?"

Geoff gulped as he stood out of the darkness and fully into the light, datapad hooked under one arm as he allowed the light of Anadius to reveal his appearence. Geoff was a grizzled man; he had heavy stubble around his chin, a few pimples on the side of his face, heavy-lidded eyes and puffy lips. His wife had died during the First Contact War and he had been forced to raise his son, Carter, by himself. But he was a loyalist to the bone; and loyal only to Cerberus. Even Miranda had limits to her loyalty.

Geoff cleared his throat as he spoke, "The Tajikistan was destroyed by the Normandy sir; we just received a message from Captain Nepal stating so. It would appear we have underestimated the Normandy and her crew sir."

"Noted," TIM stated, angered.  _I should have seen it coming. Commander Shepard, taken down by a platoon of commandos were are really just well-dressed mercenaries? I shouldn't have expected them to get their jobs done. Andrew Nepal was a great captain, one I'd rely on heavily, but I guess its my fault sending him to take the Normandy with a stealth frigate and a mediocre crew. If I had given him the Elbrus...well, too late to dwell on things like that now. The Normandy is still space worthy and worst of all...not under my control. We have to change that,_ "Do we know where the Normandy is headed now?"

"No sir," Geoff informed him.

The Illusive Man pondered on what Shepard would do.  _Nepal informed me the Normandy was severely damaged; which means its wounded and needs repairs. He can't go to Walker Station for obvious reasons, same with Omega. Alliance docks would reject him simply for flying Cerberus colors and Illium would demand too high a price. That leaves..._

"Have our agents on the Citadel get ready for the Normandy's arrival. He's coming," TIM declared, not even turning to look at Geoff, "And make sure to specifically order them  _not_ to engage the Normandy crew, merely observe. We will retake it, but for now, I'll let Shepard run the show. Let him speak to the Council. Hopefully they'll listen to him this time."

He was still angry with Shepard for the destruction of the Collector Base. He had suggested purging the base with a radiation pulse so they could keep the collector and reaper technology inside, but Shepard had stubbornly insisted on reducing it to rubble, resulting in its destruction, along with the Human-Reaper.  _If I had managed to acquire the wreckage of that Reaper...my scientists would have learnt the secrets quickly, and we'd be one step closer to learning how to control them. Moot point now of course. But if I can somehow acquire that IFF again..._

The only Reaper they knew about was the Derelict Reaper that had once orbitted Mnemosyne, but its IFF had been taken by Shepard for the Normandy crew per his orders and finding another from it was out of the question as Shepard had quickly sent it hurling into Mnemosyne's core, destroying the Reaper wreck and leaving him empty handed. The only other Reaper they would find was...

...the wreckage of Sovereign. Sovereign had lead the geth two years ago during the Eden Prime War and had been present during the Battle of the Citadel. Of course, thanks to Shepard's defeat of its servant, Saren Arterius, Sovereign's defenses had been lowered enough for the Normandy SR-1 to descend the final blow, destroying it. Finding wreckage of it would be difficult; it was in the hands of hierarchy, alliance, republic and union scientists and laboratories, but if he dispatched teams to find the wreckage and find the IFF...

"Geoff, also flag our agents in the Alliance," TIM ordered, taking a sip of his whiskey, "I want them scouring everything they can find and trying to find any pieces of Sovereign they can and bring them to Cerberus labs for examination. I want Sovereign's IFF found. If we can find it, I'll equip it to as many ships as possible and send them through the Omega 4 Relay. Maybe the debris of the collector base will help us."

"Right away sir," with that, Geoff nodded, bowed and left, leaving TIM in merciful quiet. He thought about all he had lost but was gaining.  _I've lost Shepard. I've lost Miranda. I've lost EDI. I've lost Chambers, Daniels, Donnelly and Gardner. I've lost Jacob. I've lost the Normandy. But soon I will have an army of supersoldiers. I will have a fleet capable of effectively countering the Alliance. I will be able to stage operations on a much grander scale. I have Oleg Petrovsky. I have Geoff Dielheart. I have the Elbrus. I have Kai Leng, the blunt instrument he maybe, but great killer he is. For everything I lose, I gain something new. All I need now is something to replace EDI..._

He commed his terminal, "Geoff, get me a secure comm with the Styx Cell."

A few moments passed before Geoff secured the link to the head of the Styx Cell, Agent Decumbry, "You requested to see me sir?"

The Styx Cell was responsible for the creation of EDI and most of Cerberus' VIs and AIs. They would do well creating yet another AI, this one even more loyal than the first, "Yes, I want you to develop an AI, this one completely from scratch."

"Another one sir?" Kyle Decumbry asked with a frown, "I thought we were done with AI ever since the Enhanced Defense Intelligence went rogue."

TIM nodded, taking whiff from his cigarette, "We have, but this time I want it built from scratch and with more safeguards; I want it to be as emotionless as a geth and loyal  _only_ to me. It'll still be of feminisitic personality and..."  _I can't make the same mistake as last time and make it a part of the Elbrus. But if I gave it a body..._ "...I also want a combat infiltration unit built for it; humanoid based. It'll serve as an infiltration unit."

"Very well sir," Decumbry concluded, "What shall we call the project?"

It took a moment for him to think of something, and he was surprised at where his memories lingered. He remembered Eva, her beautiful features; her hair, her cheeks, her eyes. He had been close friends with Eva; even had feelings for her, but that had been when he was known as Jack Harper. That had all stopped when he had watched her die on Palaven, killed by the hands of Saren Arterius himself just after the conclusion of the First Contact War, which he himself had fought in. Just before he had written the manifesto for the declaration of Cerberus and naming himself 'The Illusive Man.'

"Project: Eva," TIM decided, "The AI will be called Eva, named after Doctor Eva Core."

"Very well sir. We'll update you on our results," With that, Decumbry cut the comms and TIM relaxed in his seat, looking back at Anadius. He sighed heavily, breathing in and out.  _The pawns fall into place. If I'm lucky, Cerberus' armies and fleets will be ready within the next several months; maybe by Febuary next year. Oleg will lead my armies and Kai Leng will be my assassin. Eva will my infiltrator and Geoff my second-in-command._ He brought up a schematic of Omega next, thinking best how to approach Aria.

But first, he had other concerns. A certain benefactor, if it could be soon called that. He put the schematic of Omega under his bookmarks and brought up a file on the Shadow Broker.

_Yes, and alliance would serve both of us some good. We could...join forces._

An interesting prospect indeed.

Shepard was good at blowing up things he didn't agree with. But its kinda hard to blow up an enemy who knows what you do before you even do it.

**"The Citadel repairs would take a while, that's for sure."**

**\- Tali'Shepard pav Rannoch.**

**"Meanwhile, nothing basically happens. Or so we thought."**

**\- Marcus Shepard.**

_**A/N:** _

_**I don't know if you guys even watch Game of Thrones or have read the A Song of Ice and Fire books, but for those who have, I seriously think the Shadow Broker was inspired by Lord Varys. Their tasks are almost EXACTLY the same. The resemblance is uncanny. The personalities aren't the same, of course, but their roles...yeah...** _

_**Now, if you don't mind, I'm going to return to finishing Season 5 of Breaking Bad (or play Assassin's Creed IV, which is a great game btw (fucking fantastic)). Enjoy your taste of Requiem.** _

_**As for the new fanfic update, I gave up on that, but it was a Jacon and Friends sequel. I'll probably continue it at some point (I need to watch more comedies. Monty Python might help). Either way, yeah. As for those expecting HICH, I REALLY want to continue that story, but it just doesn't look like its going to happen. I'm sincerely sorry. Maybe in another life I might, or even when this quadrilogy is finished (still haven't come up with a name for it. Could do with some suggestions).** _

_**Enjoy life peoplez.** _

_**Keelah Se'lai.** _


	3. Benevolence At Hand

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Shepard arrives at the Citadel, with a plan on how to begin preparing the galaxy for the Reapers. The Illusive Man and the Shadow Broker reach an agreement.

**REQUIEM**

**CHAPTER TWO:**

**BENEVOLENCE AT HAND**

_October 12, 2185_

_0922 hours._

_Docking Station 9, Shalta Docks, Shalta Wards, The Citadel._

_Commander Marcus Lee Shepard, Chief Engineer Tali'Zorah vas Normandy, Gunnery Master Garrus Vakarian, Staff Commander Kaidan Alenko, Flight Lieutenant Jeff 'Joker' Moreau._

"Roger that Normandy, you are clear for landing. Welcome to the Citadel, and please enjoy your stay," with that, the C-Sec Controller disconnected the comms and the Normandy brought itself towards the directed opening. All of those present remembered it from two years ago; the dock that the Normandy had used during the majority of the Eden Prime War; now being used again. Marcus had to say that he preferred it; the Zakera Ward Dock just wasn't as accomodating.

He turned to his team, "We'll be landing soon, but shore leave doesn't commence until I've met with the Council. We may have cut ties with Cerberus, but in their eyes, we're still a liable security threat."

"And members of Cerberus," Garrus deadpanned, look exasperated, "They still don't believe the Reapers exist, so why should they believe anything else we say? Us showing up in the Normandy only aims to help their point of view, not to mention the Cerberus uniforms."

"Which is why the crew is not leaving the ship yet," Marcus firmly stated, "Noone, that is, except Kasumi and Kelly. While we meet with the Council, Kasumi and Kelly are going to the supermarket to buy new clothing; we are removing all existence of Cerberus from this ship, starting today. This ship will get a new paintjob, new insignias, new uniforms, new everything. Even Joker will get a proper cap. Once clothes are purchased, we can depart."

"How are we going to convince the Council to pay for the repairs?" Kaidan asked skeptically, "The repairs will number in the millions; the Council was never willing to provide their spectres with equipment; why start now?"

"I still don't get that," Tali mumbled but Marcus pointedly tried to dismiss the topic.

"Hopefully we'll get that resolved. You know me, I can be quite convincing," that got them grinning. He turned back to Joker, he was waiting for him to finish, "Miranda's got the ship Joker; do as she tells you. Unless those orders involve taking the ship to the nearest Cerberus space station."

Joker rolled his eyes, "Its my bones that are crippled Shepard; not my wits. Lay off. Just piss off and the Council to do shit for us."

Marcus smiled and slapped the man gently on the shoulder before leading his team into the airlock; he had only taken the squad he had from the original Normandy; just so he could rub it in the Council's faces that they weren't done fighting, even if they had. Maybe with these schematics, they'd come around. He'd have EDI or Legion present the findings, but it was understandable why both were completely out of the question. But on second thought...

He turned to Tali, "Contact Legion. Tell it to meet us at the airlock."

The quarian frowned at him but did as she was ordered anyway, sending a message to the geth infiltrator through her omni-tool before turning back to face Marcus, "Why are we bringing a geth onto the Citadel? You do realize what kind of a panic that would ensue, right?"

"I do, but I have an idea," Marcus told her, "The Council have obviously convinced themselves that Sovereign was a geth superdreadnought. But with Legion, we have all the evidence to show them that they are feeding themselves bullshit."

Garrus guffawed, "That's so stupid it might actually work."

Legion, with all the effiency of a machine, must have left immediately, as it was in the airlock a second later. "Shepard-Commander," it greeted. He nodded at the geth, and they all waited for the decontamination process to cycle through before the airlock opened and they were able to step out onto the dock. Without further hesitation, they all turned towards the elevator, eager to get this over with.

They all quickly entered the elevator, Marcus hitting the button for the C-Sec Academy for stepping back, hands clasped behind him. He wore his N7 hoodie and cap, while Kaidan wore one of his t-shirts he had brought onboard from Horizon. Garrus wore his armor, as he always did. The elevator design looked exactly the same from all that time ago, not looking to have changed one bit. Even the news reporter was the same.

As they descended, Marcus turned to Legion and immediately hit another idea, taking off his jumper. Everyone looked at him oddly until he started fitting the jumper over Legion, only just fitting the platform. The geth looked confused, as much as it could, but that stopped when Marcus placed the hood over the geth's optics, hiding it from view.

"That should disguise you well enough until we reach the human embassy," Marcus declared, turning back to the door, wearing only his jeans and single N7 shirt now. Garrus looked amused by the sight of Legion in a human's hoodie, while Kaidan paid no mind. Tali didn't seem to notice either, but that was expected; the quarian still didn't fully trust Legion, and that was understandable.

He also remembered just how slow the elevators were on this part of the Citadel. Those were not fun memories.

The elevator finally came to a halt in C-Sec Academy, and the pane of glass that served as a door slid into the floor, allowing them passage. The five of them stepped out of the elevator and onto the tiled floor of the academy, and they all quickly noticed that this place had barely changed either; of course, there was a ladder strawn across a wall and a few cranes, and Marcus could see missing walls and their insides. The Citadel was still under repairs from the battle, even two years after its conclusion.

They managed to weave their way through the crowd of C-Sec officers mingling about, along with the occassional recruit, and made their way over to the rapid transit terminal nearby. Marcus noticed two C-Sec officers stationed at the door leading into the spectre requisitions office, both holding assault rifles. And the more he noticed, every doorway now had guards posted.

He turned to Garrus, "This place looks far more heavily guarded than two years ago; I knew security was tight, but two guards at  _every_ junction? That's a bit excessive, don't you think?"

"The geth attack showed just how vulnerable the Citadel really is," Garrus replied as they waited for their taxi, "C-Sec had to really double security. I hear their even being called a militia now, as well as military police. The presence of the Alliance on the station also doubled the C-Sec population, so yeah, they have more officers at their disposal now. Allows for promotions; explains Bailey commanding the Zakera Ward. But all these guards...I have to agree, it seems really excessive. They don't usually do this unless they suspect a terrorist attack."

Marcus simply nodded, crossing his arms and frowning.  _Terrorist attack. Was Cerberus here recently? Could they know we're here?_ The thought flew away as their taxi arrived and they all got inside, the spectre asking to be taken to the Citadel Embassies. The squad all lay back and watched as the taxi took off, leaving the Academy and flying down the Ward, towards the Presidium ring.

He heard Tali sigh next to him and dump her head on his shoulder, breathing lightly. Marcus smiled and kissed the top of her hood, before looking back out the window and out into the purple nebula that was the home for galactic politics. He looked down on the many wards; skyscrapers reaching out into space, tiny dots flying through the spaces between them, and the dance of lights on the surface below them. The figures of the Citadel Defense Fleet centered around the Citadel and inside its arms; turian, asari, salarian and human warships alike prowling around, along with the pride of the fleet herself, the Destiny Ascension.

He watched the Citadel Tower come into view; memories conjured up from the Battle of the Citadel sprouting in his mind; his team running up its length fighting hordes of geth and krogan, Sovereign grasping the tower in its arms, unwilling to let go. The Council Chambers situated at the top, where the final battle with Saren had commenced, and where Sovereign had met its downfall. All of that had happened two years ago; yet it felt only like it happened two months ago. He also remembered the battle that had raged; the defense fleet fighting geth warships, and losing.

He shook the memories from his mind and closed his eyes, leaning into Tali, and napping until they arrived. The ride itself wasn't very long, or at least didn't feel like it; almost as soon as he closed his eyes, three-fingered hands shook him awake, the quarian informing him they had arrived. He nodded, and opened the door, getting out and waiting for Tali to follow before closing the door, paying the driver and heading into the embassies.

The Presidium hardly changed either; a beautiful, tranquil blue lake lying in the middle of two-sided unbelievably clean cyan structures that arched up and around with the ring, artificial sun beaming in the sky. Trees and bushes occupied areas where they could, and the movement of turians, asari, salarians, hanar, elcor, volus, humans and even a few krogan, was constant. The smell of fresh, delicious human and alien foods met his nostrils, yet was instantly replaced by foul memories; the smell of black smoke, burning trees and the darkness enveloping the area from a deactivated sun, explosions rocking the station and sirens blaring in the distance.

With a sigh, he continued forward, nodding to his friends as he caught up to them and moved up the stairs, heading towards the human embassy; located inbetween the elcor/volus and salarian embassies. As they moved towards it, Tali moved up to him and shook his arm, turning him to her. She crossed her arms, "What's wrong? You've been looking...distant."

He gave her a warm smile, "Its nothing, just old memories. Bad memories. Memories long forgotten. The Battle of the Citadel."

"That was two years ago," Tali reassured him vainly, "Saren is dead. Sovereign is destroyed and you rewrote the heretics, remember? They won't attack us again."

He nodded, remembering. Not too long ago, before the final battle at the collector base, Legion had informed him of a geth virus being devised by the heretics, the 'bad' geth involved with the Eden Prime War, which would rewrite the true geth and assimilate them to the heretic ideals. So they attacked the station, and rehardwired the virus to rewrite the heretics, causing them to rejoin the true geth, abandoning their worship of the Reapers to rejoin their synthetic brethen. The Heretics were indeed gone, but that wasn't what kept bugging him.

"Sovereign may be gone Tali, but its friends aren't. They're still coming," Marcus told her wearily as they reached the embassy.

"And we'll stop them. You've done well so far; besides, you've got us to help you. We're not about to abandon you now," she promised and he smiled at her, squeezing the hand she offered. They parted as they reached the door and Marcus moved up, knocking. A familiar voice beckoned them inside and they moved in, door closing behind them as Marcus smiled at the human councilor sitting at his desk across the room.

The man named David Edward Anderson stood up from behind his desk and smiled warmly at the commander, dropping his datapad and approaching him. He was a dark-skinned man who wore the same navy blue uniform of the Alliance Navy that he had worn when he originally commanded the Normandy SR-1 two years ago. And two years ago, Marcus had made sure that Anderson won the title of human councilor over Ambassador Donnel Udina, a politician that Marcus strongly disliked and found the feeling mutually returned.

Anderson showed all the posture of authority and strength that came with being an ex-Alliance Navy Captain and N7 operative; Pressly had once told him that Anderson had won so many medals that if they were melted down, you could make a life-sized statue of him. Anderson was Marcus' mentor, but by the way the man heralded him, you'd think Anderson looked up to Marcus, not the other way round.

"Shepard," Anderson greeted, still smiling before grabbing Marcus in a bear hug. Once released, the councilor backed away, "Aren't you a sight for sore eyes! I haven't heard from you since that brief meeting of yours with the Council; in other words, a  _long_ time. How's that war with the Collectors going? Get any idea as to their origins? Why they're abducting our colonies? Maybe you could-"

"They're gone Anderson," Marcus stood tree trunk straight, glancing proudly at the team behind him, "We stopped them."

"You what?" Anderson asked, eyes wide, "How the hell did you manage to get through the Omega 4 Relay? Their ships are powerful by themselves and they must have been huge in number."

"They were Anderson, but even that didn't save them in the long run," Marcus grinned.

"The Illusive Man, the bastard he might be," Kaidan spoke up, moving to stand beside the spectre, "Did provide us with some nice little trinkets and toys to play with. We gave one of their cruisers are little taste of our new thanix cannon, and we cut through them like butter. As for the Omega 4 Relay, we managed to steal a Reaper IFF from a dead corpse and fit it into our ship. Allowed us instant access."

Marcus nodded, "You'll find that the Collector Base is nothing but debris now; we blew it to kingdom kum. You wouldn't believe how big it was sir; it was over ninety kilometers in length."

Anderson whistled, "The Citadel suddenly feels very small," the councilor leaned against his desk, "I'm glad you wiped them out Shepard; they were a menace that needed to be stopped. But the Council has never liked the prospect of genocide."

"They seemed okay with it when it came to the krogan and rachni," Kaidan replied harshly.

"Indeed," Anderson replied in agreement, "Still; quite a feat you managed to pull; just another title to add alongside 'Hero of the Citadel.' Did you find out their origins at all? Why they were abducting humans? Their involvement with the Reapers?"

"If you don't mind Anderson, I'd like to keep that secret until we meet with the Council," Marcus requested, "I'd like to get this off my chest all at once. It'll be alot to take in. And I've got evidence they simply can't ignore this time."

"Good. As soon as you informed me of your arrival, I immediately put a request through to the Council," the councilor informed them, "They'll request a comm link soon," he turned to the team and smiled, standing straight, "I see some of your crew rejoined you. I knew about Kaidan, but Vakarian as well? And is that you Miss Zorah?"

"Indeed it is," Tali greeted, "It is good to see you again, Councilor."

"Just call me Anderson," the N7 insisted, "Where's Miss T'Soni and Wrex? I know you have Joker and Chakwas; Adams had me informed of that himself. He said to send his apologies; he was 'too busy.' And I know you guys are good, but I didn't think it possible you could take on the collectors with just them."

"I'll admit, we didn't," Marcus shrugged, "Unfortunately, Liara and Wrex couldn't join us; Liara has a personal...vendetta to resolute, and Wrex has to keep the krogan clans in check to get ready for the Reaper invasion. I recruited a much larger team; and its far more deadly than the original sir. I'd be willing to introduce you to them later, if you wanted to councilor."

"Sounds good; I'll clear my schedule."

"I might help with that."

Marcus wanted to groan, but he didn't, so he rolled his eyes instead as he turned to see the grizzled, always arrogant form of Donnel Udina standing in the doorway, arms crossed and a smug grin on his face. The man hadn't changed abit; he had grey hair and a wrinkled face, and seemed to wear the same dull white clothes he always did.

Anderson scoffed, "You helping me with something? Now that's a first."

Udina didn't look amused as he pushed past Garrus to stand infront of Anderson's desk, "As much as we dislike each other Anderson, you'll have to admit that I am the better politician. I can handle your affairs while you...inspect Shepard's ship."

Marcus decided to tug a few strings, "Hope you're not planning to ground me like you did two years ago; I don't think I'd stop with a black eye this time."

Udina sighed, "It was merely politics commander, you must understand that."

"All the more reason to hate politics; it almost got us all killed. If Anderson had suggested escape, I think we'd all be dead right about now," Marcus pointed out.

They both exchanged glares for a short amount of time before Udina broke off, "I heard there was a meeting with the Council; is this correct? I would like to accompany this meeting."

"Very well Udina," Anderson sternly replied.

Udina nodded and melted into the background, avoiding Marcus' eyes. The spectre shook his head and turned to Anderson, "I just want you to know sir, we've severed all ties with Cerberus. They were a means to an end, and we reached that end, so they had no further use for us. The Illusive Man actually wanted to keep the collector base so he could research it; never gave him the chance."

Anderson rolled his eyes, "That bastard's ideals have always been a mixed bag, but I guess he's served his uses well enough. What about the Normandy though? She's still wearing Cerberus white and gold."

"That'll change when we begin repairs. New paintjob hopefully should cover it up," Marcus reassured him, "I-"

"Anderson, the Council is calling for session," Udina informed the councilor.

Anderson nodded, standing up and straightening his uniform, "Very well; let's do this," he nodded to Marcus and they all stood infront of the three diases that occupied the side of the room, the holographic forms of asari Councilor Tevos, turian Councilor Sparatus, and salarian Councilor Valern coming into view. Even  _they_ didn't look any different from two years ago.  _Has nothing changed?_

"Commander Shepard," Sparatus greeted with the usual disdain; he had never been a fan of Shepard, and seemed to be personally dislike him more than Udina did. The words  _'Ah yes, 'Reapers', a race of sentient machines supposed waiting in dark space. We have dismissed this claim'_ came to mind whenever he met the turian or heard him speak, and he hated him all the more for it, "This is surprising; I thought we had made it perfectly clear that you were to keep your operations in the Terminus Systems. We want no involvement in your fairytale endeavours."

Valern waited for Marcus' response to the turian's statement while Tevos shot Sparatus an annoyed look. Out of the three idiots, Tevos was the one Marcus liked the most. She seemed alot more willing to listen than the other two and annoyed when Sparatus scolded Shepard. Not to say that she believed him about the Reapers; she didn't, and she was still a political idiot, just the lesser out of the rest of them. The lesser evil, for lack of a better term.

Marcus showed no signs of being fazed by the turian's jab, "Operations which have now concluded councilor; the collectors have been dealt with and human colonies are now safe from any harm they pose."

The three councilors looked confused by the revelation, but Valern wasted no time in investigating; salarians loved doing that, "You say you stopped the collectors? How? The Omega 4 Relay is completey untraversable; any ships who have attempted such a journey have never returned. And what do you mean by 'stopping' the collectors? Have you delayed their operations, hindered them or completely halted them?"

"Me and my crew traversed the relay using a IFF we gleaned from a Reaper's corpse," he was basically ready for the council's eye roll, "Once through, we engaged collector naval forces, defeated them, boarded their station and destroyed it from within, taking all the collectors with it. As of now, the collectors are officially extinct, councilors and no longer pose a threat to the Systems Alliance or any other council or non-council race. I have a datapad with information pertaining-"

"You wiped out an entire species?" Tevos asked with obvious shock, "Do you realize what you've done? The genocide of an entire species-"

"Is a crime the Council is ignorantly familiar with," Marcus replied firmly, "Let us not forget how you bombed the rachni into extinction using your krogan armada and once you were done with them, you began their slow genocide as well. Do not lecture me councilors on the morals of warfare; I did what was necessary. The collectors were a threat that needed to be checked; they were the enemy."

"So is Cerberus," Sparatus blurted out, "Yet you had no quarrels with associating yourself with the Council's enemies."

"My alliance to Cerberus was merely beneficial and not long-term," the spectre fought back, "I worked  _with_ them, not  _for_ them, and once they fullfilled the purpose they served, a cut the rope holding them to me. My days with Cerberus are officially over councilors."

"We'll need confirmation of us," Valern replied.

"Contact the Illusive Man," Marcus bluntly replied, "I'm sure he'll be more than willing to explain to you how I shat on his plans to use the collector base to further terrorist advances and told him to get fucked."

Sparatus sighed, "This is a formal meeting Shepard, it would be considerate of you to keep profanity out of it. As for departure from Cerberus, we will have to confirm this, but for the long run we will reinstall your full status as spectre; see that we don't regret it. Apart from the destruction of the Collectors, is there anything else you'd like to inform us of?"

"Yes Councilor," Marcus inhaled and exhaled, getting ready for the big reveal, "I have found irreputable proof that the Reapers do indeed exist."

Tevos sighed and Valern shook his head, while Sparatus crossed his arms, "Why do you insist on pushing this nonsense of sentient starships? No matter; present these so-called findings quickly. I have many things to do, and wasting my time on mythical machines is not one of them."

"First off however," Marcus declared, holding a datapad in the air, "I have some disturbing news pertaining to the origins of the Collectors and why they were abducting humans. After boarding what appeared to be a disabled collector vessel, we discovered a collector body and ran some scans and some comparisons; what we found was truly horrifying. The Collectors are, inarguably, the last remnants of the prothean race. Servants that were twisted by the Reapers and transformed into abominations to serve their will. This datapad has all the proof needed," he then handed the datapad to Anderson, who took it and ran scans on it. He saw the look of shock on all four of the councilor's faces, Tevos none the more prudent.

A couple minutes later, Anderson returned, handing the datapad back, "I've just run a comparison between sampled prothean DNA and the collector DNA provided. They are indeed an exact match."

"By the goddess..." Tevos exclaimed.

Valern seemed contemplative while Sparatus leaned forward, outraged, "So not only did you commit genocide against the collectors, but you wiped out the last surviving members of the protheans! The ones who built the Citadel and the mass relays; and you decided to wipe them out!"

Marcus fumed, "You'll remember what I told you; they weren't protheans any longer. The Reapers had indoctrinated and transformed them many centuries ago; they were nothing but mindless husks and servants when we destroyed them; what me and my team did to them as a mercy."  _The Protheans didn't build the Citadel or the mass relays either, the Reapers did, but I don't really think bringing that up will help my case._

"Indeed it was commander," Tevos replied, recovering from her shock and waving for the meeting to continue.

Anderson spoke next, "Word cannot reach the public about this just yet. If the hanar were to find out..."

 _Shit. Didn't think about that. Good thing they don't have a Council position then._ The hanar were highly religious, in terms of government and culture, and were known for their reverement of the protheans as gods. If they found out a human was involved in the 'defilement' of their gods, there would most likely be war. The hanar would most likely lose said war, as the Alliance had a greater military strength overall and a far larger fleet, but it would be war nonetheless. Not one the galaxy needed if they wanted to be ready for the Reapers.

"This news is very troubling," Valern dictated, "I will contact Dalatrass Linron on Sur'Kesh and send her the data so the STG can review it. As for the abduction of human colonies; did you find out why they were doing it? How they were doing it? All Alliance reports state there were never any signs of battle."

"The Collectors did so by jamming communications first," Marcus explained, "Once in orbit, their superdreadnought, or cruiser as they dub it, would deploy a massive of mechanical insects called 'seekers' in a massive swarm to paralyze the colonists; they would sting them and inject a paralyzing agent that froze their limbs. They would then land, collect the colonists, and be gone. A quick and simple process, one we first witnessed and hindered on Horizon."

"But why?" Valern asked.

"This is where the Reapers come in," Marcus declared, exhaling, "Not long before the battle, the collectors attacked my ship and abducted the crew. Not long after, we commenced our assault, infiltrated the base, and looked for our crew. When we found them, we found the Horizon colonists as well, but we were too late to save them. The collectors...they...melted them down into red goo before pumping it through tubes into the control station...while they were still alive..." he trailed off to let that sink in.

Tevos looked repulsed and he noticed, out of the corner of his vision, Udina looked horrified. Anderson tried to keep his expression passive while mumbling 'god have mercy', Valern looked just as contemplative as ever and Sparatus looked about to puke. Nonetheless, he continued, "When we finally confronted the destination, we were horrified to discover that the collectors were using human body matter to build a gigantic Human-based Reaper ship. Our scientist, Doctor Mordin Solus, believed we were witnessing Reaper reproduction, so to speak. Every cycle, they would pick a species to base their next Reaper off of, and then abduct enough of that species to build a new Reaper. According to the specs, the amount of humans needed would have numbered way into the hundreds of millions..."

"How can you be certain it was 'Reaper' in design?" Sparatus asked skeptically.

"Because the design was definitely not collector," Kaidan replied, "I was there, same as Tali and Shepard. Collector design is organic fused with metal, and very insectoid. This thing...it was made of grey steel, and red eyes like that of a demon and showed no signs of any known species architecture. Everything about it reminded me of Sovereign..."

"...the geth superdreadnought," Sparatus finished, "So the geth are in colloboration with the Collectors, simple as that. The geth most likely finished Saren's job and decided to rebuild Sovereign, but instead chose humans for a template, most likely out of retaliation for the Battle of the Citadel or in revenge for the destruction of their warship. This nonsense about Reapers is beginning to grow boring."

"This tale is entirely logical given contradictory evidence provided to argue point," said the synthetic voice that would change everything.

All eyes turned to the disguised machine in the back and Sparatus scoffed, "A mech with a voice? What's this Shepard? Another one of your stories?"

"This, Councilor, is proof from a primary source," Marcus responded, causing everyone  _not_ on the Normandy in the room to frown at him as he turned to the hidden geth, "Come forward, Legion."

The geth did as ordered and stood beside Marcus. With a sigh and an inhale of breath, the spectre reached over, grabbed the top of the hoodie and pulled it off, letting it drop to the floor as the geth was fully revealed. Anderson widened his eyes as he equipped his pistol and Udina leapt for cover. The councilors looked affronted and Valern looked about ready to comm for C-Sec. Sparatus looked infuriated, "What is the meaning of this! You've brought a geth onto the Citadel! You've lost your mind! We'll have you-"

"Why don't you let it speak first," Marcus requested, turning back to the councilors, "This geth is not your ordinary geth. Before Legion speaks, I'm going to let you in on a little revelation I discovered a little while ago. The geth involved in the Eden Prime War were a different faction of geth; the ones the True Geth, the other faction, call the 'Heretics.' To put it simply, the heretics are the 'bad' geth. The True Geth are the 'good' geth and don't wish organics harm. Legion is true geth. This proves that not all geth are evil machines wanting to kill us all. Legion helped me destroy the collectors and while I don't fully trust it just yet, I still believe it an ally."

Anderson seemed to relax, "Two factions of geth? That's alot of revelations to take in. So the heretics are the only faction we have to worry about now?"

"Well, not so much anymore, as they no longer exist. That faction has ceased to be," Marcus told them, "We raided their base of operations in the Sea of Storms system and rewrote them, making them rejoin the True Geth. The heretics won't be a problem for the galaxy anymore."

"How can we trust it?" Tevos asked, doubtfully, "For all we know, it could have made up that story to infiltrate the Citadel..."

"Geth do not infiltrate."

Tali nodded, "Besides, my people built the geth, we know them best. And as much as they have evolved, current studies show that they are still incapable of lying. We built them that way. They simply can't tell anything but truth."

"Very well," Sparatus nodded, "So what 'truth' does this geth have for us?"

Marcus nodded to Legion and the geth spoke, "You organics have placed yourselves under the common misconception that Nazara, the ones you call 'Sovereign', was of geth design. All records indicate this to be a false assumption. All records of geth manufacturing indicate that no such construction was ever made. Scans also indicate that Sovereign is beyond current geth technological status and design and is concensusized to be millions of years younger than even the asari species."

Valern hummed, "If Sovereign was not of geth design, then what was it?"

"This answer has been provided many times. It has been met by the same illogical conclusion," Legion replied, "Nazara is a member of a series of runtimes known as the Old Machines, or as you have called them, the Reapers. They are billions of years old, and predate even the earliest of current organic civilizations. They existed before the protheans, and long before whoever came before them. The Citadel and Mass Relays show signs of their technology in use, and therefore can be concluded that they are of Old Machine manufacture. The geth have concluded that the fifty thousand year old extinction cycle waiting period had concluded ten years ago, but two years ago was delayed by Shepard-Commander's actions on the Citadel. However, this has not halted the Old Machine advance. It is also confirmed that the Human Old Machine design is representative of Old Machine reproduction, and that Nazara's design was based off that of an organic species called the 'Thoi'han'."

"I thought the story was that the geth worshipped the Reapers," Anderson asked confusingly.

"The geth make our own future. Nazara offered to provide that future. The heretics accepted this offer and took to revering them as deities," Legion explained, "The true geth are machines. We have no need for religious subpractices. They are an illogical displacement of devotion and faith, qualities which geth have not quite grasped yet."

Sparatus sighed heavily while Valern shook his head. Tevos looked at Marcus and examined his features before she too shook her head, "This is alot to take in commander; this Council will need to think on this. We cannot act blindly; our actions are major and guided, and if were to inform the public that galactic doom was looming over them..."

"But the geth has already made it clear that the Reaper threat is no longer something to worry about," Sparatus spoke up, looking down at Legion before glancing at Marcus, "You stopped them from coming two years ago; the Citadel was their access point, and you have cut it off, the Keepers are no longer under their control or influence. Wherever they are in dark space, they are trapped."

"You think that'll stop them?" Marcus asked, chuckling. The Council looked at him with confusion before he narrowed his eyes at them, "Nothing stops them; Sovereign was right about one thing: they are beyond our comprehension. Their technology, their logic, their intelligence...it is nothing like we've ever seen. Sovereign carved through the Citadel fleet and Alliance Fifth Fleet like carving through a cake. Just imagine thousands of ships just like it coming for all of us, coming to destroy us all. They have no pity, no remorse, no mercy. They have a millenia of patience, feel no fear and are, conventionally, invincible. It doesn't matter what hell you believe in; they are demons  _from_ that hell coming to get you. They will not stop until this galaxy is empty of all organic life. So tell me, do you think alittle bit of travel through  _dark space_ will stop them from carrying out their cycle of genocide? I spoke to their leader; the one they call Harbinger, and he is coming. And if we're not ready, we're all fucked."

He looked at all three of them, "Think long and hard councilors; think long and hard about your tactics, strategies and how many dreadnoughts you're going to build. The time for discussion is over; the Reapers are coming, and we fight, or we die.  _That's_ the plan."

All three councilors nodded and their holograms disappeared, ending the meeting. Marcus nodded for Legion to put the hoodie back on while he approached Anderson's desk, the councilor holstering his pistol while Udina stood behind him, eying Legion with distrust. Anderson took a seat at his desk while Marcus followed suit on the other side, sighing.

Anderson shook his head, "I hope they listen; I may be a councilor, but I'm just one among three."

"They have to listen or its the death of us all," Marcus told him, "And if they won't, I'll appeal directly to their leadership; the asari leaders, the turian primarch, the salarian dalatra. The quarian conclave, the hanar monarchs...hell, even Aria T'Loak. I'll go all out if I have to. The Reapers will be here soon."

"You know don't you?" Anderson asked, "Just how soon can we expect?"

"A couple of years at least," Marcus declared, leaning forward and wiping his face with his hands, "A decade if we're lucky."

"Christ," the councilor exclaimed, "Looks like we've got our hands full then. I'll get a session running with the Alliance Admiralty, see if we can then take this straight to the Arcturus Parliament. Hell, Udina's friends with all of the parliament, maybe he can help."

"I will try my best," Udina assured them and for once, Marcus found himself liking the guy. He was finally putting that 'politician' title to good use.  _Maybe I did make a mistake not making him councilor; Anderson's a good man, but he's a better navy officer than he is politician. Udina's a natural at it. Oh well, no turning back now._

He looked at Anderson, "If you do, I want in. I need to discuss certain plans with them, especially Garrong."

"What kind of plans?" Anderson asked.

"Cerberus plans," he told him with a smirk, "Working with the bastards had its advantages. I know the location of one of their drydocks, and once we have that, we might be able to check Cerberus on every front. Even the Shadow Broker might be able to help. I also have a friend who could help too. My plan is to make the Illusive Man desperate enough to finally sucede to my leadership, giving us full access to Cerberus and its resources to use against the Reapers."

"Working with terrorists won't be easy," Udina stated.

"But its necessary. All past prejudices are rendered moot where the Reapers are concerned. While they exist, we are all friends, allies and comrades."

"And, as much as I hate to admit it, my relationship with Tali'Zorah will help in the long run getting the quarians to join forces with us. On a political spectrum, I'm on good terms with most of the admiralty board save one, which means it'll be easier to convince the conclave."

"What use are a fleet of vagrants and thieves?" Udina asked with disgust.

Marcus shot him a glare and he heard Tali bristle behind him, "Think of it this way Udina; its not just a fleet, its a fleet of fifty thousand fully capable warships. There is the problem of civilians and the non-combatants, but if we can find them a world to colonize, we can have all fifty thousand of their ships combat ready and capable. And with the geth willing to fight, that's just an added bonus."

"It will be no walk in the park getting those two to fight together," Anderson exclaimed, "Reapers are no, quarian and geth prejudice runs deep, we all know that. The quarians won't just drop everything to fight alongside the machines that killed billions of their people and took away their homeworld from them."

"And if they had that homeworld back?" Marcus grinned, looking at Tali, "I think the quarians would be more enticed to the idea if the geth decided to give Rannoch back, not to mention the entire Perseus Veil. When I said 'a world to colonize', I wasn't talking about some shithole planet noone wants. I'm talking about the only one that matters."

Anderson raised an eyebrow, "That doesn't sound easy. A matter of fact, it seems downright impossible."

Marcus heard a chuckle from behind him and Garrus spoke.

"Him being able to  _sit there_  and  _speak to you_ about such an impossible idea just shows how much the word 'impossible' means to him."

**{Loading...}**

_October 12, 2185_

_1359 hours._

_'Humanity's Sanctum,' Upper Level, Cronos Station, Anadius System._

_The Illusive Man, First Lieutenant Geoff Dielheart._

"Sir, we've made contact with one of the Shadow Broker's agents," Geoff announced from behind him, omni-tool out and displayed infront of him, "She says she'd contact the Shadow Broker and let her know whether they want to play ball."

TIM nodded, taking a wiff of his cigar before letting it fall casually into the ash tray, "Excellent. It shouldn't take long; the Broker is a very efficient person and its network is quite widespread and rapid. Now we simply sit and wait."

"Wait sir? As in...just stand here?"

"Precisely."

They waited for a couple of minutes. All the while, Geoff just stood there, looking out at the bright light that was Anadius while TIM patiently and silently waited. After a few more minutes of waiting, the Illusive Man's console beeped loudly and he reached forward, hitting the console and bringing it to bear before him. Displayed on the terminal were the words 'incoming message from unknown source'. With a nod, TIM placed the cigar in his mouth and hit connect.

The terminal disappeared, only to pop back up, with the words 'call connected.' A monotone, deep voice, almost like that of a machine, rang through the close to empty room, the sound of it being clearly male, but not of any known species. It sounded machine like, yet hidden under the tone was organic voice cords. Then it hit him.  _Voice mask code; very intelligent. Mask your voice by making it sound completely different from your normal voice, making identification of it impossible._

"Illusive Man," the Shadow Broker boomed, "I don't believe I've had the pleasure."

"The feeling is mutual," TIM replied, "Our networks and agents have collided in the past, but I don't believe either of us have spoken to each other. Of course, we both know face to face contact is too risky to our identities to attempt, so that's not an option. It is an honor to be speaking to the Shadow Broker himself; few have the honor."

"And those few are usually dead by the next day," the Broker replied coldly, "Although, I am wondering, why you would contact me; I haven't known Cerberus to seek out my services. I would like to chat, but this I would know before I leave. I have much work to do, an army of agents to organize and a business to run. Make it quick, Jack Harper."

TIM smiled inwardly and took a sip of his whiskey, "My proposition is quite simple, Shadow Broker. We both have a potential enemy; you might seek to destroy him, I seek to rein him in as an asset. Lets not play stupid by pretending you don't know who I am."

"I am aware of who you speak of," the broker replied, cold as ever.

"A partnership would seem beneficial in any case," TIM proposed, "We both have vast networks and we could both help each other. You need Liara T'Soni eliminated, and I've got the perfect agent to do that. I need Shepard reined in, and you could help with that. Of course, this partnership would be purely temporary, but it would be helpful to the both of us in the long run."

"Why then," the Broker replied, "Why do you need my help? You have the resources to do this yourself."

"I don't have your contacts, agents or sources," TIM bluntly put it, "I may have troops and ships, but my network is inferior compared to yours. We can easily compliment each other; an alliance between us would be extremely beneficial to both sides. And if you've been listening in on galactic events, then you know what's coming."

"The Reapers," the broker replied, "Do not worry, I am not like those political fools. For two years I have been looking up whatever I can on them. I think we're in agreement when you say that an alliance would be...agreeable, for the both of us."

TIM nodded, humming and taking another whiff of his cigarette, "So you agree that joining forces is necessary."

"Completely," the broker dictated, "As for T'Soni, I will deal with her. I have one of my best agents on Illium right now and standby. When I give the order, she'll pounce and kill Liara like she was nothing. She maybe a Hero of the Citadel, but she's nothing without Shepard."

"If I were you Broker, I would fear T'Soni," TIM bluntly declared, "You may be numerous and powerful, but so is she, and she is one of Shepard's crew, which just makes her all the more dangerous. If she were to learn too much...she might just bring you down."

"That won't happen, not with my agent close by. Just stick to your part of the bargain."

"Which is?"

"Provide my troops with backup when needed and give me a fleet to deposit."

"You shall have it. Cerberus and the Shadow Broker will blossom from this partnership," TIM assured him, "Now if you don't mind, I must find out what my agents have on Shepard. I will report anything substantial to you when I can."

A grunt was heard before the call disconnected. TIM frowned and for a bit simply stood there, looking at Anadius. After a bit however, he turned to Geoff, "This partnership is merely temporary; after that, I'll have no need of him. The Shadow Broker is a powerful ally and a dangerous enemy; I don't want him hindering our efforts. We'll work with him until he feels safe enough to reveal his location and after that, we'll strike hard and fast and remove him. Then, I will insert myself as the new Shadow Broker and Cerberus will expand."

"You plan to betray him, sir?"

"When the time is right, yes," TIM declared, "Although I prefer to call it a...reallocation of valuable resources, rather than treachery. That word is simply too harsh for something like this. The Shadow Broker has betrayed many of his own agents in the past and even some of his own clients, so I'd say its well-deserved karma. However, keep this between us. The Broker has eyes everywhere, and there's no reason not to believe that he has eyes in my organization as well."

"Yes sir."

"You are dismissed. And have Decumbry send me an update on Project Eva."

Geoff bowed and left, the man wondering if he should see how Carter's lessons were going. Ever since joining Cerberus, Geoff's son had been attending daily lessons from Cerberus employed teachers inplace of normal schooling. Carter would one day be a member of Cerberus just like his father was, and hopefully be better.

TIM looked out into space, and for once ignored the radiance that was Anadius. He sighed, putting out his cigarette by squeezing it on the ash tray.

_I have the Shadow Broker on a leash, he just doesn't realize it. Now lets see if I can get a second chain for Shepard. And who knows, maybe I won't need a strong leash. Maybe the Broker's bite will be enough to put him into submission._

**"The beginning of a new awareness."**

**\- Tali'Shepard pav Rannoch.**

**"Or, so we hoped."**

**\- Marcus Shepard.**

_**A/N:** _

_**Yes, this chapter was mostly politically based. I just wanted you guys to know that the Council aren't complete fuckwits like they're made out to be in ME3. And honestly, Shepard has a geth and evidence of a Human-Reaper, and he never provides? I'm sorry, I call bullshit!** _

_**Sorry for the long wait too!** _


	4. The Ark

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Back in the present, Thane and Reby are pursued by Prometheus. Meanwhile, on the Citadel, Jessica tries to extract a quarian ambassador whilst under Promethean assault. Carter oversees the construction of the Ark: a copy of the Citadel.

**REQUIEM**

**CHAPTER THREE:**

**THE ARK**

_August 10, 2251_

_1726 hours._

_Cockpit, Paradise-Class Interceptor, Inbound for Hoc Relay, Leaving Orbit over Virmire._

_Terra-Rannochian War_

_Staff Sergeant Reby'Reegar pav Rannoch, Lance Corporal Thane'Shepard pav Rannoch._

Another ship-to-ship missile locked onto the small human interceptor and launched from the promethean corvette, spiralling towards them. Luckily, Reby had caught up on her pilot training and initiated a sharp dive, followed by a roll, causing the missile to lose track of its target and fly aimlessly into space, detonating soon after.

Thane's back thumped against the chair as Reby acellerated forward, hoping to get within point-blank range of the corvette so they could retaliate. Reby locked on and managed to disperse a cruise missile at the corvette's hull before having to spin out of range of another rocket. The high-yield cruise missile impacted the corvette's shields and detonated, an azure field sparking to life to protect the vessel from any damage, but immediately exploded, overwhelmed by the power of the missile.

Interceptors were not like standard fighters or bombers; they were designed to harass destroyers and cruisers, including crippling them. Bombers were meant to take on battleships, carriers and dreadnoughts, while fighters were mostly escort. This corvette was heavily outdated and unable to take on a interceptor such as theirs successfully.

But why was a promethean vessel attacking them anyway? They were allies!

The interceptor shook and for a moment, Thane's heart stopped. He looked around the cockpit frantically, but immediately calmed when he saw the forward console and looked at the battle status; the shields had taken the brunt of the assault and the corvette had simply spun its AA guns to bare on their ship; a burst catching them in the side, but doing little damage.

"Thane!" Reby called out as she initiated another roll, "Think you can hack that corvette's defenses? Disable its AA guns?"

"Definitely," Thane replied, opening his omni-tool and beginning the task of locking onto the corvette's IFF signature and beginning to hack. His mother, Tali'Shepard pav Rannoch, was one of the most intelligent and dangerous engineers in the galaxy, and she had taught him and his other brothers and sisters all she had to know about engineering. Thane definitely wasn't his mother, but he was close enough.

Hacking the corvette's defenses was easy; the ship's VI was pretty basic and was unable to detect his entry till it was too late. He uploaded junk data into its core, confusing it while he bega to simultaneously hack the AA guns. Hacking into the weapons array was even easier, and with a tap of a finger, he watched the AA guns go from green and enabled, to red and offline within seconds of each other. And for better measure, he put the VI out of commission for good by uploading a virus into its core; one designed to kill a geth on impact.

The corvette didn't stand a chance now; shields overwhelmed, VI dead and AA guns cripped, they had the upper hand. Thane looked out a viewing port and finally got a good look of the promethean corvette. Like most promethean vessels, it wasn't promethean manufactured, but either built by the Coalition, Republic or Confederacy and would then be repainted and renamed, and a new insignia stamped on its hull.

The promethean insignia was easy enough to spot, along with the black and white exterior of the small vessel's exterior. The corvette was obviously an ex-Coalition scout ship, and it showed. The ship's design was that of a Earth shark; small wings at the front of the vessel were the fins, the arched and bent bow was that of a great white shark's head and the extended elongated rear of the ship was the tail, with engines pulsing red under the back. The design was rugged and imperial; like most human architecture. From what he remembered, it was an Oceanic-Class Corvette, and its name was plastered on the side in big black letters.

 _CSV Iwojima, C-999._ The ship had to be 100 feet in length, at least.

Missile bay doors shot open and more missiles shot out, but Reby had already flown over to avoid them and opened fire with the interceptor's chin-mounted rippers, a term given to the chain guns because of how powerful they were, directing a major score on the ship's conning tower, a small structure in the middle where the bridge was. As they flew past, Thane watched in horror was the areas where the rippers tore open the hull began to fall victim to decompression, and many of the ship's personnel were dragged into space, most likely including the captain.

With no command crew, the corvette was leaderless and defenseless. Reby brought the interceptor around and began to head straight for the corvette. As she did, she twisted in her seat to face Thane, "We're going to board that ship and find out why they attacked us and commandeer it if we can; you got your rifle?"

Thane nodded, pulling out his alligator heavy rifle and acolyte heavy pistol. Reby nodded, aligning the interceptor with the airlock on the enemy corvette; now that Thane got a closer look, this ship really was tiny. Even the Normandy SR-2 was bigger; this had to be at least half the size.  _Corvettes have always been smaller than frigate; and lesser armed. Any Normandy-Class frigate would have torn through this ship like an annoying pest._

Thane heard the click of two airlocks connecting and immediately unstrapped himself, taking his rifle, and already holstered pistol, and opening the back door and running out into the cargo bay of the interceptor, before running to the airlock. He raised his rifle crouched next to it, and Reby wasn't far behind, holding her shotgun.

Checking that her shotgun was loaded, she looked down at Thane and smiled weakly, "This should be easy. I never liked Prometheus, and I had my suspicions they were dirty, but to outwardly attack a coalition-marked interceptor over a major trading zone owned by the Dominion and regularly patrolled? That's just stupid."

Thane shrugged, "I-I guess we won't know until we board the ship and find out."

Reby nodded and waited for Thane to open the seals on the enemy ship's airlock. Once opened and checked, Reby opened theirs and quickly traversed into the corvette's decontamination unit. Thane hacked through that easily enough as well and soon they found themselves in an empty corridor, running the length of the vessel.

The interceptor hadn't done much damage to the ship itself; so power was fully operational. The corridor felt claustrophobic and the walls seemed to compress on each other in an uncomfortable way. Lights aligned the ceiling and the sides, and the entrance to the captain's quarters was located to the left. One crew member stood frozen in the middle of the corridor; a human with a promethean uniform and unarmed. They raised their weapons.

"Don't shoot!" The human begged, dropping his datapad onto the floor and falling to the ground on his knees, hands behind his head, "I surrender!"

Reby approached him, weapon raised and gaze untrusting, "What's the total crew compliment of this ship? Including armed personnel and any passengers you have."

"One navigation officer, one armoury officer, one marine sergeant, a single promethean squad, light infantry. One communications officer, single commanding officer, one tactical officer. Rest are non-essential personnel; mostly engineering."

"Give me a number," Reby growled.

"Including all of them? Forty-four."

"Well, that's one down, forty-three to go," Reby announced, moving back and ramming the butt of her rifle into the back of the man's head and knocking him out. They both stood still, hoping noone heard, but the only sound to greet them was the humming of the ship's engines. Satisfied noone could hear them, she turned to Thane, "You go to the cockpit and eliminate any surviving senior personnel, but keep the pilot alive if you can. I'm going to deal with whatever armed units they have and then take care of engineering."

"You want us to split up?" Thane asked stupidly.

Reby rolled her eyes, "Its a skeleton crew Thane; hardly a threat. Besides, your the son of Tali'Shepard and The Shepard himself, so I can think you can handle a crew of promethean misfits. Meet you on the bridge," With that, Reby ran up ahead and down the corridor, hitting a door at the end and continuing past it. Thane simply shook his head, unbelieving of the situation the two quarians found themselves in.  _One quarian and a half. Keelah, how did we end up here? One relay jump and we'd be back at Earth...but nope, Prometheus sees fit to attack us for no reason._

He heard gunshots, most likely Reby encountering hostiles and opening fire.

Thane sighed as he lifted his weapon, which suddenly felt heavier than before, and continued to follow Reby's path and moved through the door she had opened.

Before him lay a CIC similiar to the one on the Normandy; noticably smaller however. It was only ten meters across, and didn't feature a galaxy map with command ramp at the back; instead, it had multiple consoles aligning the walls, with a galaxy map painted on a flatscreen on the roof. The CIC crew were all dead, all will pistols laying next to him. They had obviously gotten some shots off; holes littered the walls, along with one spent thermal clip cooling on the floor, blood pooling around their bodies. They were mostly humans and quarians, but one looked like a drell.  _Guess peace talks went well with them._

An elevator lay at the back, along with two corridors stretching behind it, and by the signs on the walls, those corridors lead to engineering. He looked at the elevator and immediately entered it, hitting the button for the top deck, which was the main deck out of 3 decks in total, making the ship round about the same size as the Normandy SR-1. The door closed and the box began its descent; thankfully, it was faster than other elevators.

He readied his weapon for combat and primed a smoke grenade. He expected resistance, but nothing substantial and overwhelming; just a few crew members with sidearms. If the captain was alive, he'd be the first priority for elimination, but apart from that, everything would be fine; hopefully. He hoped Reby knew what she was doing.

The Iwojima's elevator ascended the conning tower until it finally reached the cockpit at the tip and the door slid open to omit him entrance. He was greeted by the sight of a close to empty room; the cockpit was only slightly bigger than the Normandy's, but mostly looked the same as well, just without the flight deck behind it, and fully-manned.

Noone seemed to notice him, so he listened to the quarian captain shouting orders, "Get me a full damage report! And why won't that damn VI respond!"

The tactical officer, clearly a geth, responded, "Attempts to communicate with the VI have been unsuccessful due to a overwhelming flood of junk data on its main core. I am working with Hotel Bravo to remedy the situation."

"Uyal'fi!" the captain exclaimed, falling into his chair and slamming a console on it, "All CIC officers, I want a damage report now; and find out what the hell is going on with engineering!" Without waiting for a response, which Thane silently thanked the ancestors for, he turned back around and cursed again, "One simple mission; Find Reby'Reegar and Thane'Shepard, eliminate them, command does the rest.' How fucking hard was it! But noooo...they forget to mention that they're in a far superior vessel! A corvette fighting an interceptor! I should have stayed in cloak. Does the  _cloak_ even function anymore?"

"It does sir," the navigation officer replied.

"Good! Fat lot of good it'll do us now! Has the Virmire Orbital Patrol been alerted to our presence? A promethean vessel on their property will surely piss off the brass."

"A destroyer by the name of CSV Solemn Reconciliation, Penance-Class, responded to reports of a naval engagement, and has notified two patrol vessels on our side of the planet, CSV Khan and CSV Raan, but they have not made a move yet. They appear to be waiting for reinforcements."

"Have they identified us though?"

"Impossible to tell; but if they've only notified two patrol vessels, then they must know our class at least, but not the organization."

"And the interceptor?"

"Docked sir."

"Good, I-wait,  _ **what!?**_ Why, in ancestors name, wasn't I informed of this!?"

"You didn't ask."

"You incompetent machine!" The captain stood up angered and shouting down the geth, "They're most likely unboard, and if you have any more wits about you, you'll remember the son of the Avatar of Rannoch was onboard and most likely coming for us. You know what to do!"

Seeing that he had heard enough, he raised his rifle, aimed at the back of the captain's head, and fired. The shot tore through the back of the quarian's skull and erupted out the other side, the sheer power of the rifle ripping his head half of his head, red gore coating the cockpit floor as he crumbled down dead. The crew reacted immediately.

The tactical officer charged forward, attempting to use its strength to kill Thane. He side-stepped the charging geth but left his foot out, causing the geth to trip over. The geth may have achieved sentience, but that also meant they could make organic mistakes, this being one of them. With the geth on the ground, he emptied a round into the back of its optics, before facing the rest of the crew.

He only just noticed that the ruptures made by the interceptor's chain gun were now sealed up by mass effect fields; lucky that, eh? The rest of the crew made no motions to attack and simply surrendered, falling to the ground. Thane was tempted to execute them, but then he remembered his mother's words.

_Your father and I never executed with prejudice; we gave the benefit of the doubt. If they surrender, don't shoot them, because that's murder in cold-blood. We...he, wouldn't have wanted you to be that kind of person, and neither would I. I'm not telling you how to fight Thane; just try not to become a murderer. You're better than that._

The memories faded; his mother sitting on the couch, a young thirteen-year-old Thane sitting next to her, while she told him. Sometimes she'd tell him stories about her father, his life and her life, and, occassionally, would open up and talk about the Post-Apocalyptic War, also known as the 'Post-War Apocalypse' or, by humans, as the 'Second Great Depression.' He remembered those memories fondly.

He lowered his weapon and motioned them into a corner next to the elevator so he could keep an eye on both. With that done, he commed the private comm link and attempted to get ahold of Reby, "I've secured the cockpit Reby; what about you?"

Her reply was instant, "The security detail gave up without much of a fight; nabbed four of them before they pissed themselves in fear, or whatever it is I'm looking at. Engineering was trashed when I got there though; and they already surrendered, but one of them seemed to be giving me this knowing grin; its got me alittle bit worried."

 _You know what to do!_ Were the quarian captain's last words.

He began to become concerned as well, "What do you want to do?"

"Well, if this chief engineer is grinning like an idiot after being captured, then I'd have to bet they have a continegency plan going on. And you know how they all go; self-destruct or bombs or a secret stash of deus ex machina soldiers or something like that. I'd say we double back to the interceptor; I'm going to-"

The console behind him began to beep, but he didn't turn to it. "What's that sound Thane?" Reby demanded, voice laced with concern and authority at the same time.

"I'll ask," he assured her, before turning to his prisoners, "What's that sound? What's it doing?"

A human spoke up, japanese by the looks of it, "Cleanup crew, that's who."

"Cleanup crew...?" Thane repeated, confused. He angrily thrusted his weapon forward, face contorted in anger at the man's crypticality, "What the hell do you mean by that!?"

"Continegency orders. We call it the 'No-Evidence Protocol.' If a Promethean vessel becomes compromised, we simply self-destruct. But of course, a corvette doesn't need that, as they are usually used as escorts. So, in this case, we have some buddies coming to do it for us."

Thane's eyes widened in fear as he finally did turn around and looked at the console. The readings made him gulp and stand as frozen as an iceberg. His heart stopped and every nerve in his body seemed to just go numb. His throat went so dry, he couldn't even scream for Reby to  _run._

_Incoming FTL signature; Archangel-Class Battleship, CSV Marcus Shepard._

He turned just in time to see the massive bulk of a multi-culture designed battleship to come into view. The Archangel Class, as they like to call it, was a line of warship built solely for the purpose of christianing heroes long lost and to help form the building blocks for the future Galactic Coalition, following the climax of the Reaper War. Only eight of the line were ever built; and they all assimiliated multiple design aspects; it was designed by the krogan, turians, quarians, humans, asari and geth, but never saw service until the Post-Apocalyptic War.

And they were named after the great heroes of the Reaper War; Marcus Shepard, Tali'Shepard, Garrus Vakarian, Kasumi Goto, Urdnot Wrex, David Anderson, Liara T'Soni, Kaidan Alenko. The T'Soni was lost during the Second Occupation of Palaven in the war, destroyed by a turian dreadnought and the Goto suffered an engine malfunction and all life onboard was killed by radiation leaks and the ship quickly went adrift, eventually falling into the atmosphere of Valar. The other six were still in Dominion service today, one of them even managing the Maginot Line.

And now one of them, ironically named after his father, loomed over the disabled corvette, ready to rain death on the puny warship.

It was massive; slightly bigger than a carrier, and smaller than a dreadnought. The overall design of it was misshappen; it resembled the predatory body of turian warships, the thick armour plating resembling krogan brutality, the sleek hull of geth, the wings of obsolete Ascension-Class asari dreadnoughts, human ideology of 'might over speed' and, of course, quarian resourcefulness.

It was a monster; just from looking at the bow of the vessel, he could see the weaponry of the beast begin to unravel; numerous turrets and GARDIAN lasers, the underbelly of a undeployed Earthsplitter, two thanix cannons, a line of 310mm ship-to-ship heavy main guns, eighty-eight on each broadside and an unaccountable amount of missile pods. If this was the armament of a battleship...

Then came the red and yellow of the Systems Coalition, finally followed by the black and bold letters 'Marcus Shepard' inscribed on the hull. Seeing those two words, about to destroy the ship he was on, was all that was needed to send Thane into full panic.

But it was too late; he didn't hear it, but he saw it; the flash of green as the battleship's starboard thanix cannon locked on and fired. Then he felt it; a wave of heat piercing the ship as Thane was thrown to the ground in a haze of black as the cannon made short work of utterly gutting the ship. A second shot finished its carnage and the battleship was gone as fast as it arrived.

But Thane didn't even know; and as he fell unconscious, all he could think of was Reby.

They would die on this ship; this forgettable ship, in orbit of Virmire.

**{Loading...}**

_August 10, 2251_

_1721 hours._

_Lower Bar, Purgatory, Presidium, The Citadel._

_Terra-Rannochian War._

_Spectre Jessica Alenko, Ambassador Veetor'Nara pav Rome._

"I hope you can fire a gun!"

Jessica didn't wait for a response and immediately popped out from cover, firing rapidly at her enemy; she mostly used it as an excuse to get a better look at her enemy. Aside from the HMG wielding krogan on the catwalk, the numerous agents charging their position were two humans, three quarians and five geth.  _Damn it, never easy is it?_ She aimed her shots at the nearest human's leg, a bullet blasting into his kneecap and causing him to scream in pain as he doubled over and fell flat on the ground.

She moved back into cover and immediately checked the weapon's core; it wasn't overheated, but it was close to doing so, and it didn't have much plasma left in the battery. She cursed as she turned to Veetor, who just crouched there, not knowing what to do and staring aimlessly at her.

"Hello, Citadel to Veetor," Jessica clicked her fingers infront of his face to gain his attention, "You gonna speak to me or what? Do you know any exits?"

Veetor shook his head rapidly, "Of course not; its not like I know this place inside and out!"

"You took me into a bar, with agents not far behind, and didn't even  _map it out!?_ " Jessica exclaimed, wincing as a bullet pinged off the bar and ricocheted, hitting the ceiling above them. By this point, the pulse pounding music had ceased and the screams of innocent bystanders had faded away to nothing; C-Sec would most likely be on the scene soon; unless they had been paid off by Prometheus.

"I thought they'd be smarter than that!" Veetor retorted, "Its bloody Prometheus; they know subtlely more than you think you know yourself. This isn't like them! They shouldn't have attacked us!"

 _Guess he's got a point. But its always better to plan for the worst and then expect the best._ With a sigh, she turned back around, pistol in hand. The one human she shot in the kneecap was still on the ground, cradling the mangled flesh that was formally his knee while flailing about in a pool of his own blood, whimpering. One of the geth quickly put an end to that and stomped down on his face with a foot, crushing it like a kid does a can of soda. The man's head exploded, painting the floor with his brains. She could hear Veetor trying not to gag behind her, but held up a hand for him to shut up.

She looked back out and looked at the geth. It was black and white and had the Prometheus insignia painted on its chest. Red optics stared back at her, the juggernaut unit wielding a geth plasma shotgun and looking directly at her. She gasped and turned back to Veetor, knowing they couldn't hold this location anymore.

So in an absolutely insane maneveur, she used her biotics to thrust forward and slam into the juggernaut, causing it to stumble. Taking advantage of the situation, she immediately spun around and launched a warp field, point blank, into the juggernaut's side, sending it flying over the railing and down onto the dance floor below.

She initiated a combat roll to avoid a flurry of assault rifle fire from the other agents and launched herself towards the dead promethean's rifle. She scooped it up in her palm, but winced as a shot pierced her side, causing pain to shoot through her body. Ignoring it, she formed a biotic barrier around her to deflect further shots and immediately turned, pulse rifle in her hands and aimed at the nearest quarian. She pulled the trigger.

Veetor watched as Jessica engaged the promethean forces, while simultaneously trying to figure out what to do.  _Ancestors show me what to do..._ He pleaded, hoping to whatever deities existed as well that Elan was watching over him and sending help. He hoped.

Jessica bellowed a war cry as she slammed her knee into the midsection of another quarian she had charged, winding her until she could repeat the action, this time in the soldier's face. The quarian reeled back, ignoring her broken nose in favor and retaliating with biotics. Jessica dived to the side, narrowly avoiding a shockwave, before sending her own under the quarian's feet. Ripped from her feet, the quarian slammed into a wall, and slid back to the ground; she hit the wall on the wrong side, and that resulted in a broken neck. Oh well, dumb luck for her.

Jessica turned around, a grin on her face, ready to take on what remained of the overly prepped promethean soldiers. But as she looked up, she realized she had forgotten one important thing; the krogan heavy. Typhoon fire rained down on her unshielded form, and she only just managed to raise a biotic barrier, which quickly fell in favor of diving behind cover. One salvo from that beast of a weapon would have torn her apart.

The krogan laughed sadistically, "Its over Alenko; come out of hiding. Give up, and I might make this a quick and painless death for you."

"Why?" Jessica screamed back, applying medi-gel to her long-overdue-to-be-healed wound, "I thought you krogan liked to fight your enemies while they fought, not kneeling on the ground, waiting for the bullet. Worried I'll kill you?"

"I'm not afraid of you human," the krogan agent declared, holding his typhoon above him like a stick, "My orders are clear; you're not leaving this place alive."

"I've got my own orders," Jessica dictated sternly, "I live. And if it must be so, you'll all die. I'll either leave in a body bag, or I'll leave, walking and talking. Either way, I leave this place, right?"

"Of course," the krogan smugly replied.

"Then enough bullshit," Jessica declared, launching a biotic shockwave at the conformed group of agents converging on her slowly, "Lets play."

The agents were sent scattering; either avoiding the blast or being scattered  _by_ that blast, sent flying over the railing or slamming into walls. Those that survived were quickly put down by Jessica herself, and she turned to the krogan, her pose defiant, and pulse rifle in hand. She gave the krogan a stern glare, the agent giving it full in return. Before she could say anything, Veetor quickly joined her side, pointing a pistol at him while shaking. A grin crossed her features, "Finally decided to fight, ambassador?"

"I could cower behind a bar, just like I've always cowered," Veetor stated, looking up at the krogan, "Your uncle Shepard made me better than that. My wife made me better than that."

"And I'll make you a rotting corpse. That sounds alot more fun if you ask me," the krogan interrupted, lowering his typhoon at them, "This does seem way too easy, but I guess I'll go for it; I'll get a promotion, nonetheless. Any last words?"

"You did not just perform the number one cliche," Jessica complained, sighing, "You do realize that some deus ex machina is going to happen now, right? Someone is just going to appear out of thin air to convienently save us at the right time. I'm telling you...its going to happen at any second now."

"What are you on abou-"

The krogan never finished as someone decloaked behind him and before he could turn around, a knife appeared around his throat, a gush of blood shooting out as his neck was ripped open. The figure drew back and waited for the krogan to drop his weapon before giving him a rough shove, causing the massive tank to fall off the catwalk and come to a wet thud on the ground below. Tearing their eyes away from the body, Jessica looked up, along with Veetor, and smiled at who she saw.

The same black outfit, the same black hoodie, the same white eyes; age hadn't changed her at all. As it didn't her skills it seemed; modern medical technology worked wonders.

"You just had to ruin my grand entrance, didn't you?" The figure asked snarkily, voice hoarse and old, but still holding the same comedy it always did, "I wish you wouldn't do that kiddo, it really does ruin the moment. I felt like a big hero there for a second," she jumped off the catwalk and nimbly landed on the ground, motioning for them to follow her outside, cloaking again as she left.

"Who's that? I seem to remember her alittle, but I can't remember her face," Veetor asked as they ran outside, following the former savior of the galaxy, or one of them at least. As they got outside, they saw three more dead agents, all collected around her prone form. The figure looked up and smiled behind her hood, obviously trying to capture the same innocence and youth and energy she once had.  _She likes to pretend._

"I know who you are!" Veetor remembered, the image of the figure smiling and bowing coming to mind, "You're Kasumi Goto!"

The old thief smiled weakly, "Kasumi yes. Goto...not anymore. I am Kasumi Vakarian, at your service."

"Wait...your husband is Garrus Vakarian?" Veetor asked.

"Which one?" Kasumi asked snarkily, "We have a son named Garrus Junior; an inside joke of mine. I like to poke fun at him when I call for him and both answer," she laughed, "That was, well, until he was killed during the war," she lost her smile, "Junior, I mean. But that doesn't matter, we need to leave. Prometheus have agents all around this place; I've got a skycar nearby."

"Where are we going?"

"Far from the Citadel; its too dangerous here."

"Maybe Aunt Shepard can help," Jessica suggested, "She's deep in quarian politics; if she can..."

"She's being watched by Promethean agents; do you remember a woman by the name of Reia'Inas?" Kasumi asked as they rapidly approached her skycar, Veetor in tow.

"Vaguely, yes," Jessica admitted, "She was somekind of high-class smartass, but underneath was the visage of a warrior. She's cunning, dangerous and ruthless in combat. She hates Tali'Shepard, and Tali'Shepard hates her, that's well known, mostly due to Tali having killed her mother when she worked for Prometheus decades ago."

"That's hardly vague girl," Kasumi commented, arriving at her skycar and opening the door for both of them to get inside. They did so and the thief closed the door, making sure noone could see them before getting in the driver's seat and taking off, "Either way, yes, Reia is keeping a close eye on Tali and her special interrogation subject. If Tali were any younger, she'd kick Reia's ass, but unfortunately, none of us big heroes are what we used to be. Shepard's dead, Garrus and I are too old to drop into a combat zone let alone wage war and Tali barely walk up the stairs to her own bedroom. Prometheus has timed their attack well; Cerberus bided their time, waited patiently, and then attacked. Influence is a weed, Lord Varys would say."

"Lord Varys?" Veetor and Jessica asked at the same time.

"Game of Thrones. You wouldn't understand," Kasumi hurriedly stated, "All you need to know, is that Prometheus is planning something big. I don't know what it is, but I've been keeping tabs on the many governments of the galaxy and I've been getting help from the Shadow Broker, and it appears that Prometheus has been making strange requests. They've placed increased focus on diverting materials away from the war effort to trying to the Andromeda Project."

"Andromeda project?" Jessica asked in confusion, "As in the Andromeda Galaxy?"

"Yeah, its a project that's been revived and cancelled again and again over the decades. All failed attempts to reach the Andromeda galaxy and the M33. Call it a 'Super Mass Relay' that allows for transporation between galaxies. And for some reason, Prometheus has put a huge focus on it. Why? Who the hell knows. By now, I'm sure you know Prometheus is Cerberus, don't you?"

"I still don't get how that's possible," the spectre insisted, "The Illusive Man is dead."

"But not the ideals," Veetor replied, "He died, and so did his organization, but the ideals lived on. Cerberus is an idea, not just an organization. And ideas are harder to destroy than you'd think. This idea has lived on and has given seed to Prometheus, which is about as dirty as any one organization can get. If my information is right, they'll most likely try to shut down the Broker next."

"Which is why I'm taking you to the Broker herself," Kasumi declared, letting the skycar descend on the docks, "You ever wanted to meet Aunt Liara, Jess?"

"Damn right," Jessica declared, "Maybe she'll have answers as to why everything is going to shit."

"Prometheus isn't the only worry," Kasumi stated, "The Sanctum is still pretty pissed about the Shadow Broker attack on Alpha, and the Covenant seem to be getting smarter. I don't know about you, but this entire war seems to be getting closer to an end, and I don't like how the ending looks or particulary how its colored."

"What's wrong with the color?"

"Its red. Dark red," the thief flinched, "Red in the blood of trillions. The Dominion may not be saints, but like it or not, the Maginot Line is all that stands between the Dominion and the Covenant. If they break through, all hell will break loose. The war will end, trillions will die."

"Our military is superior in everyway," Jessica told her, "That might not win wars, but in terms of the Covenant, we'd crush their armada extremely quickly if they ever broke through."

"You're right," Veetor stated, before giving her a knowing look, "But what if the Covenant had the technological advantage?"

Jessica widened her eyes, "What are you-?"

"Prometheus doesn't choose sides; it supplies both. Prometheus has always had an ulterior motive the entire time, and now it all comes to fruition. Don't you under, Spectre Alenko? Prometheus doesn't fight for the Dominion, they don't fight for Sanctum or the Covenant either. They don't fight for anyone; they're fighting to see us kill each other. That's why this war exists; it was engineered so that we'd bomb each other into submission, and when its all over, and the dust has cleared, Prometheus will stand on top."

Jessica looked between them both before looking back at Kasumi, who gave her a look of despair she had never seen on the thief's face before.

"Prometheus has played us both. They were twindling their thumbs and waiting for the downfall, and now they have it. Earth is well-protected they know that. They managed to convince the Coalition to nuke Thessia and occupy Palaven, along with Sur'Kesh, which removes the asari, turians and salarians as a threat. Now they've just got to eliminate the rest. Dominion and Covenant will wipe out each other, Dominion will win phyrricly and then civil war erupts between the krogan, humans and quarians. Prometheus helps humans, everyone else loses. And if the galaxy is uninhabitable afterwards? Well..."

"...there's always Andromeda."

**{Loading...}**

_August 17, 2251_

_1000 hours._

_Observation Deck, Upper Ward, Prometheus Headquarters, Unknown Sector._

_Terra-Rannochian War._

_Prometheus Commander Carter Dielheart, Captain Jaris 'Siren' Paltarons._

The Andromeda Project was a beauty to behold; the conglomeration of many decades of hard work, finally coming to together in one wholesome creation. Prometheus had bled its resources dry, but the Dominion just kept providing, unknowing as to the relay's true purpose; the station's true purpose. Carter stood on the observation deck, watching Reaper Oculi, accompanied by numerous promethean warships, patrolling the relay while Reaper Destroyers moved pieces into position and workers put them into place.

The Ark, as Han'Gerrel had christened it, was a carbon copy of the Citadel itself. A sister station. Of course, this idea had seemed ridiculous at first, especially when Han'Gerrel had ordered schematics of the Citadel's systems stolen so that they could build it exactly the same. But then he told Carter and the promethean architects that the Citadel wasn't a super relay, merely a massive one, and it didn't have the power to traverse a galaxy. But, if they were to build a sister station and connect both of them, it would create a super relay.

_He plans on taking the Citadel by force, when the time comes, and connecting both the Citadel and the Ark together to create a massive relay. But, what about the eezo source needed to disperse so much energy? The stations are massive; they would need a centralized eezo power source; one the size of a station, to pull off such a feat._

Han'Gerrel himself would be coming to oversee the operation himself. The man had been a massive investor in Prometheus since the day it was birthed and now the organization flourishes, mostly in part to the Prime Candidate of the Quarian Totalitarian Republic. Them, and the Human Systems Coalition were by far the most influential of the many species that melded the Dominion. Han'Gerrel may have been old for his time, but his ability to hold things together wasn't lost on people like Carter.

 _Lesser men build the greater men; the lesser men become the greater men. Remember that Carter, when you become a Cerberus agent, and you see what the Illusive Man has to offer for your species._ He remembered his father's words well. They were old and dated, but they held truth. But he hadn't joined Cerberus; by the time he was old enough to enlist, Cerberus was a name said in stories and the Illusive Man a dead corpse in an autopsy room. His father must have shared the same fate; he had never seen him again.  _But I was the lesser man; and I became the greater man._

The idea of visiting another galaxy hadn't really impressed Carter; it was just another galaxy, and it would most likely look the same as the Milky Way. But where he saw nothing but another galaxy, Prometheus saw an entire new playground; a new homeland where humanity was the only species, and ruled over their domain.

But how could they predict that? The Andromeda Galaxy would surely have other forms of life in it, possibly other sentient and sapient species, and whether or not they attained spaceflight was trivial; but what if they were  _better than them?_ Stronger? Smarter? More technologically advanced? It was hard to imagine anything more advanced than the Reapers, but it was fully possible.  _What if Prometheus wanders in too far and brings upon the death of humanity instead of its rebirth?_

His thoughts were interrupted however by the sound of teeth grinding against metal; or, at least, that's what Carter thought of the sound that came out of Jaris' mouth everytime he 'talked.' The man was about as helpful as he could be, but also increasingly annoying. A powerful and unrivalled biotic, but a witless idiot when it came to actually negoitating and discussing tactics.  _Prometheus has bred its own Kai Leng. We already have our own Dielheart and our own Illusive Man, as quarian as he is, so why not a Kai Leng? Bring me an AI while you are fucking at it._

He ignored Jaris' presence for as long as he dared before turning to face the biotic, whose sunken features seemed to look into Carter's expectantly.

"Well? Are you going to say something or do we have to stand here awkwardly?" Carter asked incredulously.

Jaris grinded his teeth, "Han'Gerrel wants to see you; its about the project."

"You needed an invitation from me to say that?" Carter rolled his eyes and, not waiting for an answer, immediately turned to leave, heading for the new 'Illusive' office. The 'Humanity's Sanctum' it had been called on Cronos Station, before being blown up. Carter didn't bother to take note of Jaris following him and just kept walking, wanting to eagerly know why Gerrel had called a meeting.

Knowing the corridors of the station like the back of his hand, Carter quickly found the new control center and moved inside, finding Han'Gerrel himself situated at one end of the table, accompanied by numerous other promethean division commanders, and the leader of Prometheus herself, Cassandra Reynolds.

Han'Gerrel turned to Carter upon his entry and smiled, "Ah, Mr. Dielheart, take a seat. We were just waiting for you."

Carter nodded and sat at the table, pushing himself in and leaning forward, hands glasped together on the table. There were a total of eight different divisions of Prometheus, and all their commanders were here, including him, who commanded Central Division.

Han'Gerrel sighed heavily and coughed, also leaning forward as he began to speak. The quarian was supposedly 120 years old, and was still fighting strong, but noone could believe it. Even for the current medical implants for old people, Han seemed more energetic than normal for someone of his age.  _Rumors even say that he should be dead. Yet here is, sitting before us, alive and well._

"You're all probably wondering why I assembled you here today," Gerrel announced, "Well, its not about Andromeda; that project is proceeding nicely, and the Ark should be completely within the year, as the project lead has informed me. What does concern me however, is the current termination of everyone assiociated with Shepard's team, including those in relation with him. Carter, I believe you're in command of central division, yes?"

Carter widened his eyes, "That I am sir."

"Care to explain to me why you ordered central division troops to carry out these orders without Reynolds' or my sanction?"

"Sir, I never ordered anything of the sort," Carter told him, "If I wanted a job like that done, I'd have sent Jaris. He's brutal and far more discreet. I assure you, if I had given the orders, I would have asked for your permission first and foremost."

"I've checked the records Dielheart, they were central division units. And for a job that should be under a promethean banner, it was done rather loudly!" Han'Gerrel stood up, looking at him with anger, "I cannot believe that you ordered a corvette to attack an interceptor over  _bloody Virmire!_ You could have alerted the Dominion to the whole damn operation! Not to mention ordering in a damn battleship! And then order a hit on Spectre Alenko and  _Ambassador Nara_ in a night club? What in ancestors' name compelled you to ignore all discretion and attack them in the open! You almost exposed us!"

Carter stood to his defense, hands slamming down on the table, "I would never have allowed such a thing to happen! When as an operation under my juristiction ever failed to be subtle or discreet? Never! Men under my command are the most versatile, stealthy and well-trained infiltrators in all of Prometheus. A fuck-up on this scale is simply not possible; I would have ordered Jaris or Reia to oversee such a delicate operaton, you know that sir."

Han'Gerrel gave him a weary look, "You cannot deny it, Central Division is your sector and therefore you must have given the orders. I cannot allow-"

"It was me sir," Reynolds spoke up, "I ordered the hit, through Central channels. The fault lies with me."

Gerrel and Carter's looks switched to Reynolds, who now stood up fully, her imposing height looming over all of them, even Gerrel. The Prime Candidate gave Reynolds a cold look before standing straight and walking over to her at the end of the table, "And why, under what pretences, were you given the idea that you could do this without my authority?"

"It was a delicate operation sir, I didn't think you'd need to be informed," Reynolds assured him.

"That's because you didn't think," Gerrel declared without emotion, moving to stand beside her looking up at her and somehow managing to intimidate even that giant of a woman, "You fucked up. You almost put Prometheus in the spotlight, and if it weren't for me paying C-Sec not to act and delaying the Virmire Orbital Patrol from investigating, we'd have been revealed. You are collateral damage."

"It won't happen again sir, I swear it. I will do everything I can to rectify the situation."

"Excellent," Gerrel coldly stated before moving behind her and unsheating his knife. Before anyone could warn Reynolds, Han had her by the throat and rammed the knife in, causing her to shout out in brief pain. She grabbed at her throat, trying desperately to breathe while also trying to seal the wound, but Gerrel didn't let her; simply holding her back by the hair and showing her off to the group, "Watch her, all of you. This is the price of failure in this organization. This is the price of fucking up in this organization. Do what she did, and this is you. Paint that picture in your mind, and it might be a little motivation."

And with that, Reynolds stopped breathing, and her neck was dark red with the sticky liquid of her blood. Han let go and let her body collapse onto the table, blood flooding along it and ruining the orange look of its appearence. Gerrel didn't even flinch, instead moving to sit back where he had been. Carter noticed some of the commanders looked uncomfortable at the sight of Reynold's dead body while Carter seemed fixated by the blood that was dripping off the table and onto his lap; the blood seeping onto everyone's laps.

Gerrel sat down, seeming not to notice. Someone managed to speak up over the dead silence, "Sir-when sh-sh-she said she'd rectify the-the situation, you said 'excellent', almost like you'd let her do so. T-then you killed her."

"Yes, I did, didn't I?" Gerrel jested, as if completely unaware of the dead corpse spewing blood over the table down infront of him, "Well, I was talking to the Leader of Prometheus, not Cassandra Reynolds. Cassandra Reynolds is dead, as you can see, so we'll need another leader to rectify the situation. Seeing as I wouldn't trust anyone else with the rank, as everyone else, as I can tell, are just cowards who can't stand a dead corpse, I think Mr. Dielheart will lead Prometheus from now on."

Carter, originally still in his transe, looked up at the Prime Candidate, looking at him incredulously, "Me, sir? I'd feel honored but-"

"I don't give a rat's arse about what you feel honored by; I'm telling you that you're the new leader of Prometheus," Gerrel forcefully told him, "I don't need you to like it, I need you to do it well. Don't fuck up like Cassandra, or I'll make a demonstration with your body that involves indoctrination and a plasma engine. Are we clear?"

"Crystal sir," Carter replied.

"Good, now-"

Gerrel's words drowned out as Carter continued to watch the blood slowly trickle off the table and onto the floor, almost as if in slow motion. But everytime he looked at that blood, all he could see was his body, Gerrel's knife in his neck, his life blood leaking out of his corpse. Carter had to do his best, or he could join Reynolds as a lifeless corpse.  _Lesser men create the greater men. Reynolds may not be a man, but she was greater than me, and I helped, in a way, forge her own demise, to which I now sit beside her corpse, inexplicitably her successor. Thank you father, I've learnt another lesson today._

_Lesser men forge the greater men, and the bodies of greater ones make the lesser ones great. I do believe that is just what Prometheus was. And now I'm its leader. Its like it was destined to be._

Carter smiled.

 **Uyal'fi:** Quarian curse word. Cannot be translated into english; although can be implied as 'fuck.'

_**A/N:** _

_**I might be able to get the next chapter out soon, but it'll have to be before Tuesday. If it isn't out before then, then it won't be for another nine days as I'm going on vacation and will be out of range of the internet. However, this is good for me as it allows me to work more on the chapters and get a few chapters ahead of the story before I return, meaning I will at least have three or four chapters ready and down by the time I come back!** _

_**Don't worry, it won't kill you to wait. You've waited long enough for this one, haven't you? And yes, you thought 2251 was going to be uneventful didn't you? Think again!** _

_**Also, if you want an overall main theme for the state of the galaxy in 2251, I recommend this music. It really does fit the mood of a distraught and divided galaxy.** _

_watch?v=qsZf2llz9vA_. Link doesn't work for some reason (doesn't reach it directly). So when you do put it into the address bar and hit enter, click on the first video to appear (Inception - Time (Extended)).


	5. Unrest

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Thane and Reby survive the attempt on their lives, but are left stranded. The Covenant besiege a vital Dominion listening post over Gellix.

**REQUIEM**

**CHAPTER FOUR:**

**UNREST**

_August 10, 2251_

_1820 hours._

_Cockpit, Oceanic-Class Stealth Corvette CSV Iwojima, Hoc System, Within 100 Galactic Miles of Virmire. Ship Terminated._

_Terra-Rannochian War._

_Lance Corporal Thane'Shepard pav Rannoch._

The world was black. No color, no texture, no people, no society. Nothing but the black tide, all encompassing. And it was peaceful; eerily full of solace. But black was the color of death for humans; and Thane knew what that meant. And suddenly, almost as if it was yanked away from him, the black was no longer peaceful, but full of dread, and Thane felt fear. Was he dead? He tried to remember what had happened, but nothing was clear. Nothing was certain in his head.

The black was so encompassing that he didn't even feel like he was moving; yet he knew he was. He could feel his feet making the movements, his hands gesturing towards him and the feel of the air blowing on his face; almost like a cool breeze. He tried desperately to remember what had happened to spark the current events he found himself in.

It was then, as if scripted, that the memories returned. Interceptor. Virmire. Sister. Ashley. Corvette attack. Board. Killed the captain. Held crew hostage. Battleship attacks. Corvette destroyed...dead. They were dead. They had to be; who could survive an attack like that? If they couldn't during the Reaper War, then they couldn't now.

 _Reby. No, she can't be dead. I can't be dead. Something's not right. Should I even feel anything if I'm dead?_ He was answered by the sound of distant beeping and...sparks? Yes, sparks flinging against metal. If he was dead, he shouldn't be able to hear something like that. But when he turned to the source of the sound, he heard nothing. But then he heard hissing...followed by moaning; the sound metal makes when put under pressure.

He turned around more, but still couldn't hear where the sounds were coming from. He flinched when static burst into his ear, loud and harsh; the sound of a dead comm channel.  _Wait...those sounds...my senses must be slowly returning to me._ To advocate his point, his ability to smell slowly returned, and he could smell smoke. No...he wasn't quite sure what that smell was.

Then he gasped, then groaned, then screamed as pain slowly crept up his arm and then, within seconds, completely engulfed it. He moved to cradle his arm and he quickly found it, holding it while whimpering at the pain.  _I've broken my arm. And I'm definitely alive; my mother always told me that you'll know you're dead when you feel nothing. She wouldn't tell me if there was an Afterlife, saying that my father never told her what death was like._

Somehow knowing he could, he opened his eyes slowly, so he could adjust to the vision. As he did so however, he was met by the ceiling of the corvette's cockpit, and all he needed to do was look at it to know the full extent of the damage; a flung open air vent, leaking gas, sparks flying from ruptured control panels and a massive hole.

Grunting, Thane sat up and immediately widened his eyes in shock at the sight held before him. Everything up to the elevator was all that was left intact; everything past the elevator had been severed and cut clean in half; hell, the elevator was completely gone, even from the other half of the ship that was now hanging loosely off the bow section that Thane occupied.

He was surprised he could breathe; the ship had no power, so therefore the mass effect fields would have failed instantly and reserve power lay in the back of the ship; which was now no longer connected; let alone existing. The first shot of the Coalition battleship's thanix had completely destroyed the rear of the vessel, the second cutting it in half.

When Thane looked around, he saw that his suit had survived the attack and his helmet was still attached, explaining his supply of oxygen. He sighed in relief as he continued to look around, further noticing that he was floating through empty void in the wreck of what used to be the cockpit of the CSV Iwojima, now a floating wreck. Maybe if he waited for a bit, a patrol vessel might come and rescue him. He still had enough oxygen to last him a week, so all he had to do was hope they'd investigate soon. Besides, it wasn't safe for shipping lanes.

 _Reby._ No, he couldn't just sit here. He needed to find her. To know she was okay. He wouldn't label her dead until he saw her body himself.

He grunted as he tried to grab hold of something, but there was barely anything sturdy to grab ahold of. The cockpit was basically just twisted metal, and if it weren't for the bodies floating near him, he wouldn't have even recognized it. But he kept trying. He needed to get out of here and search the debris. Well, the ones that hadn't floated away already, or been caught in Nemata's atmosphere.

His three fingered hands continued to stumble, but still found nothing. Instead, he chose to look around, get a look for his surroundings. To his growing trepidation, he could see the form of Nemata, an extremely blazing planet used for mining by the Dominion, looming in the distance. It was still small enough to fit in his hand, but the fact that his part of the wreckage was floating in its direction was bad. Nemata was known for being almost as hot as the planet Mercury in the Sol System, and Thane didn't want to imagine incinerating painfully on its surface.  _If_ he made it to the surface. If he was lucky, maybe one of the mining stations in orbit would rescue him, but it was unlikely.

The cockpit was obviously a dead end; so when another piece of debris made its way over to Thane, he grabbed hold of it, placed his feet firmly ontop of it and pushed up, launching himself towards a passing piece of debris; the biggest surviving piece of the Iwojima. It looked like the rear section of the vessel and last he remembered, Reby was in that area when the shots first hit. Hopefully she was in there. And alive.

With ragged breaths, he watched as he weightlessly drifted towards the twisted hunk of crap that the Iwojima had been dumbed down too. He saw that most of the ship's paintwork had been melted off by the heat of the thanix shots, leaving blank, grey metal in its midst. The body of a dead promethean marine floated by, lifeless. The man still held his rifle, and Thane quickly relieved him of it, before quickly kicking the man's body away. Rifle gripped in his hands, he lowered it behind him and fired, letting the shots propel him through space at a faster pace.

Before he could turn around, he let out a grunt as his back hit the hull hard and cold metal met his back. Without a second thought, he reprieved one hand of its grip on the rifle barrel and quickly latched it onto anything he could find to get a grip. He found a service ladder, and quickly discovered that the hull he was on wasn't the outside of a ship; it was  _inside_ a corridor. A hull had torn through it, leaving one wall gone. Thane grabbed hold of it, strapped the gun on his back and began climbing, hoping to find a vent inside.

Luck hit him again; one of the hatches had tried to seal itself during the attack, but obviously power had failed before it could fully seal, leaving it half open. With a sigh, Thane slipped both hands inside the hatch's entrance and grabbed hold of both sides, immediately trying to push it to opposite sides. The hatch was strong, but he was stronger, and he quickly opened it, allowing himself to get inside. Unfortunately for him, the hatch wouldn't stay open, and would close upon entrance.  _I might need to get out this way._

His thoughts drifted to the rifle on his back and he quickly equipped it, jamming it inbetween both seals and holding it open. He slowly backed away, still weightless, and watched with a smile as the rifle held and didn't snap or float away. Satisfied, he spun himself around to find himself in a corridor. He had no idea what such a small, circular hatch could have been for, but he was past caring; he just wanted to find his friend.  _Please let her be alive._

As he floated through the corridor of the derelict ship, all he could see was the same dull grey walls meeting him, with the same promethean insignias imprinted upon them. But as he rounded the corner, he found engineering...or what was left of it. Not seeing Reby, he began to panic and launched himself into the remnants of the engine room, finding the drive core completely absent and replaced by the stars of space.

The bodies of the engineering crew were long gone and wires and cables floated through the void; the only thing left of engineering were the consoles that had faced the drive core, but now stood vigil in the corpse of a vessel. The corvette felt like one big grave, and he certainly hoped his name and Reby's wouldn't be added to the large number of names engraved in the ship's dead corridors.

The words 'Iwojima' were plastered on the wall when he turned the corner, and below it, translations in khelish, japanese, and multiple other languages, the last one being cut off by a scorch mark and burnt out machinery. To his brief amusement, he saw the corpse of a burnt spider floating through space, suddenly remembering his mother's logical fear of the arachnids.  _Score one for my mum._

His fear quickly returned however when he saw Reby was not present. A tear fell down his cheek, but as he was beginning to lose hope, he saw a three-fingered hand appear from the other corner. He immediately spun back around, and watched as Reby's body came into full view. She wasn't awake though; her suit was still intact, but she was unconscious, most likely knocked out by the blast like he was.

He also saw that her left arm had a thick looking cable tied to it; keeping her attached to the ship so she wouldn't float away.  _She had time enough to do that. But is she alive? She has to be. Nothing wrong with her suit from what I see. But I don't know, something doesn't look-_

As he moved towards her, and her face came into view, his breath caught in his throat and a look of horror ran across his face; there was obviously a hole in her suit, recent by the look of it, and air was pouring out in white fumes and leaking into space, her life force. If he didn't stop it, she would die.

He finally stopped infront of her and grabbed her arm pulling her towards the wall with him so he could untangle her from the cable wrapped around her wrist. He held her steady while doing it, but when done, he had no idea what to do. He was on a clock, and panicking, but was clueless as to what to do next. He looked at her, and then at the hole, only to see that it was small enough to be sealed by a piece of cloth. He quickly grabbed a piece of his veil, ripped a piece off and stuffed it into the suit breach, effectively sealing it.

He sighed in relief and let her go for a moment; his fingers danced as he opened his omni-tool and patched into her suit systems, doing a check of it all to make sure she was alive. He was awarded with good news and bad news, the latter of which killed some of his joy at seeing her alive.  _Her heartbeat is steady, her lungs are taking in oxygen and brain activity is normal. She's got a bruised back and a broken ankle, but nothing a doctor can't fix. But her oxygen reserves._

She had ten minutes of oxygen left.

He had failed her; reached her too late. Even if a patrol vessel came to investigate, they wouldn't get there in time; the response time from Virmire to their area would definitely be more then ten minutes, and by that point, Reby would be beyond resuscitating. Even if he could resuscitate her, it would be pointless, seeing as she'd have nothing to breathe but-

His thoughts halted and he gulped, looking down at her. He suddenly felt heat rushing to her cheeks and behind the helmet, he looked into her closed eyes, listening to her light breathing over the comm they shared. He examined her body; as he, to his annoyance, did alot. But it was hard not to; she was petite young quarian woman. Balanced hips, large breasts, slim legs and a beautiful face. When Tali had met her, she had said that she reminded her of herself during her youth; when she was still a pilgrim infatuated with her commanding officer.

But as he looked at her; it wasn't out of love, it was out of nervousness. He and Reby had always been friends, closer to siblings actually, due to Tali personally knowing Reby's mother, Madi, and they were like brother and sister, almost. They had shared a bond that made their friendship that much stronger, and although Reby was his superior, she always treated him as a equal. And now he had an idea he never thought would be necessary.

Thane had plentiful oxygen supply, but Reby had none. To save her, he would need to link his suit environment with hers so he could share his oxygen with her; more than long enough to find a way off this ship, or wait for help. Thane's omni-tool could page a nearby patrol ship at a moment's notice.

Thane had been born when quarians were still getting used to not living in suits, so he knew of quarian 'flotilla traditions.' He knew of the pilgrimage, the Admiralty, the Conclave, clean rooms, the suits and of course...suit linking. A gesture of intimacy done only between lovers...and he wasd about to do it with Reby.

He didn't love her; or at least, that's what he tried to convince himself of. They were just friends; good friends. And he was linking suits with her to save her life, not to make love. Just the thought of the latter made him blush, and that hesitation was killing Reby. In the end, he knew what he had to do, and why he had to do it. He couldn't let embarassment stop him. That was childish and would cost the life of his best friend. His sister, in some respects.

So, with some hesitation, he unsealed a suit clamp and attached to both his and Reby's suits, effectively linking them. He watched as a 'Suit Docking Request' popped up on his HUD, and he accepted it, completing the link. Having saved Reby, he looked back up and thought of what to do next. Checking his omni-tool, he made sure the distress call was sent before just standing there, holding Reby in his arms. If she woke up, their linked suits would be very hard to explain.

Luckily enough, thanks to his actions, she  _would_ be waking up.

And as he looked blankly at the stars, he thought about current events. Prometheus wanting them dead. They were still alive and were targets; for now, they were KIA according to Prometheus, but when they popped up on the radar again...no, Thane and Reby were effectively fugitives now. On the run.

Question was, where could they run to?

**{Loading...}**

_August 11, 2251_

_1554 hours._

_Observation Deck, Avatar Gun Station, In Orbit over Gellix, Arrae System, Minos Wasteland Cluster._

_Terra-Rannochian War._

_Maintenance Technician Second Class Fortack Veal, Maintenance Technician Third Class Bilosa Tord._

He missed Nodacrux; his home planet. It was a small colony located in the Vostok System of the Maroon Sea Cluster, deep in Dominion territory and had originally been populated by humans and quarians, but had been abandoned and left for the krogan as a gift of appreciation for their acception of the Manifesto of the Galactic Dominion. Of course, Fortack had been an only child and already lived on Nodacrux before the manifesto, having been adopted by a human/quarian couple after his parents were killed by the Reapers in the 'Great War.'

When he had been old enough, which was after he completed the Rite of Passage, he had joined the Unified Dominion Navy under the Confederacy's alabama crimson and amber Shield of Hagalok. He wasn't a very good krogan due to the parents who raised him; his human mother was an architect who claimed to have helped build the Anderson Stadium on Haestrom and his father a maintenance tech on Epitaph Station. He got his current skills from his father.

When he joined the navy, he expected to be serving on a frontline warship, or even on the Maginot Line. He had always dreamed of serving on a respectable ship, like a dreadnought, most notably the Deep Savannah, the flagship of the defensive line. Hell, he didn't care if he served on a space station, like Epitaph, Shepard, the Orbit or Requiem. But when he asked for a frontline posting, this hadn't been part of his expectations.

He got a frontline posting alright; he had been assigned beyond the safety of Dominion space, past the Maginot Line and into Covenant territory. A small colonial group, escorted by a handful of fighters and a few corvettes lead by a frigate, bypassed the Covenant sensory network, which was mostly watched by the yahg or indoctrinated agents, which they blocked by using a stealth net and infiltrated the Minos Wasteland, heading straight for Gellix, a uncolonized garden world.

And now here he was; watching as the same, barren ships of different colors blew to and from the planet below to gather supplies and build a listening post on the planet, hoping to be able to spy on Covenant activities and hopefully gain a further military advantage over them. If the Dominion was getting this desperate, it was obvious they were planning a major offensive.  _Maybe they're planning an advantage on Covenant space? That could explain the need for this listening post. But why me?_ Standing on a space station wasn't as exciting as serving on a warship. Dangerous and risky, but hardly fun.

Avatar was one of two planned space stations to be built over Gellix as 'gun stations'. Their main purpose however was as satellites; stations used to connect Gellix to the rest of the Dominion and allow for tightbeam communications through a quantum entanglement network, allowing the listening post to relay information to the Military Board and, if necessary, the Maginot Line. Avatar and Shade gun stations were to be lightly armed; a few missile pods and two battleship main guns fueled by the station's thermonuclear reactor. In the event of station capture, francium is injected into the reactor, causing the reactor to explode with three times the force of the citybuster dropped on Hiroshima back on Earth. The ultimate failsafe.

Of course, this light armament was supplemented by hardcore heavy shielding; a new type of kinetic barrier that combined the use of Reaper kinetic technology, element zero and cyclonic barrier tech made by Tali'Shepard vas Rannoch, creating an almost impenetrable barrier. Of course, the power required for such shielding was substantial, which required the reactors to be online first. None of the station reactors were online yet; Shade Station was close to completion, but half of Avatar was still space at the moment.

"You look tired Veal," a familiar voice sounded behind the krogan, "Maybe you should take a nap. I can cover your shift; sure the supervisor won't notice."

Veal smiled and turned to see his fellow tech come out from the shadows, her drell form illuminated by the light of Arrae. Drell females were a rarity in Dominion space, as they mostly stayed on Kahje. He didn't know much about drell, apart from the drell apparently having wasted their own homeworld of Rakhana around eight hundred and seventy years ago and were rescued by the hanar before they went extinct. That had all changed now; the drell had adapted to Kahje and Kepral's syndrome was few and rare, affecting only a select few. The Dominion won the drell over by promising to help them reconlonize Rakhana, an offer which they gladly took.

Drell females weren't all that remarkable or even that different from males; they had long green tentacles that expanded from their head like human hair and softer skin, along with the telltale signs of breasts that almost all alien females did. Bilosa's weren't all that noticable and her form not as slender as most women, as she had gotten to taking food for granted. He had only just met Bilosa a day ago, but he already liked her and considered befriending her. He hadn't had the chance to talk to her at length due to work.

He let a tired smile cross his face as he looked back out the window and down at Gellix; the garden world that was never used, "Not tired, just bored. This posting is killing me with his tediousness."

Bilosa laughed, a smile creeping across her puffed, green reptilian lips, "Story of the century; everyone I've talked to love it. They say that helping the Dominion take down the 'covenant scum' is like a dream come true for them. Most them aren't even military; they're civilian contractors hired by the Dominion to perform this under military juristiction, but don't let that fool you; I'm pretty sure our guards are Blue Suns and Red Sky mercenaries. Not unreliable, but hardly military."

"They're not me. I love adventure; they love it calm and quiet, but I built my skills so I could maintain a ship during combat, not a station when its nice and quiet and the ships around us are doing the fighting."

Bilosa looked at him with a quizzical expression, like she was trying to uncover some grand mystery about his average existence, "For a krogan, I thought you'd be the one guarding us, not the other way around. Most krogan are warriors, not techs."

"And most drell are assassins, not techs," Veal harmlessly shot back, the krogan wrinkling his brow, "I'm not a very good krogan, Tord. My parents weren't even krogan. If a varren is raised by a human instead of a varren parent, is it going to become a predator or a pet? I'm no architect like my mother, but I learnt the ways of technology the way my father taught me. My mother wanted me to be the best I could be, but my father just wanted me to continue his legacy as a mechanic. He's of the Yala clan, you see."

"A krogan tech who doesn't want to be a warrior? You made my day," the drell responded, "And seriously, call me Bilosa. You're  _my_ superior, so I'm supposed to call you Fortack or something. Was your father  _the_ Fortack by any chance? The scientific chief for the Confederate military?"

"No. My parents were killed during the Reaper War during the final battle. They were being lead by Battelord Grunt himself," he responded with pride, "I was ninety-two when they died, still a child by krogan standards. I still am, but I guess human and quarian lifespans made them treat me differently. To them, I'm an old man."

"I always pitied human and quarian lifespans. So drastically short," Bilosa admitted, "We drell don't live much longer; only until we're 300 or so. It used to be until 30, 40 or 50 when Kepral's ravaged our people, but that's changed now. But I've never planned on living with a human or a quarian, so it didn't bother me. I don't expect to settle down with anyone if I'm honest; I'm a bit of a timid, woman. Asexual, if you'd like. I hope you don't find that unsettling."

"Doesn't bother me. I've bred with some krogan women, as is required of me for the Rite of Honor and I'm sure I have strong and healthy sons and daughters by now, but long lasting relationships or marriage don't concern me," Veal firmly declared, "Love is the death of duty, I heard someone once say. Said it was a quote from some popular book. Don't care what it was, but I thought it made sense. I've never been into women anyway."

"Then we share common opinions," Bilosa charismatically pointed out.

"Apparently," he grunted. With a sigh, he turned to her, suddenly having an idea, "You want to go grab a drink? The supervisor shouldn't notice."

Bilosa let a devilish smile cross her face, "Why not? I haven't had a good drink in months; always been on tour duty. Never got chance for furlough. But where would we get them?"

"I've got a stash of ryncol I brought for when I'm on break if you want some," he offered.

The drell squinted her face, "Ryncol's said to be for krogan use only; screws with the bowels and I've heard the digestion is beyond painful for non-krogan. And when it comes to letting it all out, it feels like acid travelling down your throat."

"So that's a yes?" He laughed.

Bilosa slapped him on the shoulder, "No! I'm not as tough as I may look! I am merely a tech, Mister Krogan Warrior."

He slapped her back, "Tech! Mister Krogan Tech!"

"Maybe I don't think your name is fullfilling! Maybe I want to-"

"Is everything alright in here? I heard yelling."

Both of them wheeled around to see a Red Sky merc standing in the doorway, looking at them. The Red Sky's were a mercenary organization covertly developed upon the remnants of the Lawson-Fredler Company, founded by Miranda Lawson and garnering funds for its development from the Systems Alliance, before it turned into the Systems Coalition. It had started off as an organization that was hired by multiple factions to keep other mercenary factions in check, such as the recovering Eclipse and Blood Pack. Blue Suns weren't a problem, as they were run by Zaeed Massani, an ally of Captain Shepard.

Eventually, the Post-War Apocalypse came around the corner, and Miranda's loyalty was divided. Eventually, she accepted the contract of the quarians due to her loyalty to Shepard's cause and eventually fought on the side of the Coalition in the war, but didn't get involved in periods such as the Thessian Fallout or Battle of the Migrant Fleet. Eventually, Miranda signed a final contract that meant that the Red Sky was finally recognized as a military entity, and was payed by the quarians themselves.

"We're fine," Vael began, soon wishing he hadn't, "We're-" he regretted his words; they were like a jinx, and that jinx just now came to bite him in the ass.

An explosion rocked the station and it seemed to rumble, but Vael quickly realized that an onboard explosion would have sent them to the ground; it was small, and the vibrations would have carried easily. He soon hit an epiphany; the explosion was of foreign origin. Bilosa gasped and pointed out the window, mortified by the sight she saw. By the red light and the explosion reflecting off the window, he knew something had gone terribly wrong. Red Sky and Blue Suns mercenaries alike ran into the room, looking outside at the sight.

Vael looked out the window and widened his eyes.

The lead flagship of the expedition, a geth frigate by the name of Piety, was no more; something had hit it and caused it to blow apart, debris exploding in multiple directions. Small pieces hit the station's hull and did no damage, while luckily, most of the major debris either entered the atmosphere or floated harmlessly away, but either way, something had attacked and destroyed the geth frigate, meaning only one thing; they were under attack.

It was then that the alarms blared and he looked up to see a Covenant fleet baring down on them; batarian, turian, tilthan, yahg and a few raloi. Batarians, being the leaders of the Covenant, lead the fleet with a single dreadnought, thanix cannon cooling down after it made victim of the frigate. Without it, the Dominion was severely outclassed and their communications weren't set up properly, meaning they couldn't send a distress call. The reactor still wasn't active, so their defenses were useless.

The Dominion battlegroup of corvettes and fighters rallied to their defense, but it was a hopeless battle. A yahg dreadnought, which was a common terminology considering that dreadnoughts were the only warship yahg ever made, quickly swept in from the side and made a run for Shade Station while a Tilthan carrier deployed fighters to distract their forces while the bulk of the Covenant fleet, at least thirty-six vessels in total, moved to bombard the outpost on Gellix.  _How did they know we were coming? We had a stealth net! Gellix should have hidden our activities from them! The Covenant couldn't have known we were coming!_

Bilosa began to back slowly away from the window and the mercenaries seemed to just stand there, weapons limp in their grasp; like they had no idea what to do. Vael couldn't blame them; what would they do? They were completely outnumbered and outgunned. Escape was suicide, as the enemy fleet could capture them as POWs or simply blast their pods in midspace. They had nowhere to go, and no way to call for help. Death was their only salvation.

Vael backed way as he watched the small Dominion forces get absolutely annihilated. The battle was short; the fighters flew infront of the corvettes, which were now effectively the capital ships, to act as a shield against the enemy fire. They took the brunt of the assault and gave them time to counterattack; streaks of light arcing up towards the covenant spacecraft and impacting their shields. A couple of enemy fighters were destroyed and the shields of a covenant frigate collapsed, but that was all the damage the Dominion got to do. The corvettes did not survive the fleet's second salvo and the yahg dreadnought and already carved through their flank and was moving to fire on Shade Station.

Evacuation alarms blared all over Avatar and the mercs fled, desperately trying to reach the escape pods. Vael gulped, watching as a covenant fleet descended upon their listening post. They didn't stand a chance...

Vael immediately looked at Bilosa and grabbed her arm, motioning for her to run. But just as they did, Bilosa gasped and pointed out the window and Vael's heart stopped when he saw what she was pointing at, predatory form stalking towards them like a psychopathic murder moving in for the kill.

The batarian dreadnought spearheading the enemy fleet had turned its attention to Avatar and its main gun loomed over them. The krogan tech knew there was no escape; they couldn't make the escape pods in time and the thanix cannon of the ship would tear through the station's hull like it was paper. They could only watch.

They barely noticed Shade Station go up in a flash of light as the dreadnought charged its thanix and fired, green light piercing their side. They felt nothing as the thanix vaporized both him and Bilosa instantly and ripped the station wide open.

And the Dominion wouldn't know until it was too late.

**{Loading...}**

_August 11, 2251_

_1611 hours._

_Courtyard, Gellix Listening Post, Eighth Continent, Gellix._

_Terra-Rannochian War._

_Corporal Sheila'Piae pav Feros._

Sirens blared as Sheila was rudely awakened from her bunk and she shot up, looking around and wandering what was going on; she was having such a nice dream. She wiped at her eyes and was about to ask Reginold what the hell was going on. She leaned over to look at the bunk below her but stopped when the building shook and the lighting flickered, causing her to topple off the bed and land on the floor below, groaning.

A rough kick hit her ribs and she immediately looked up, seeing her squad leader, a geth named Jupiter, looming over her. He was a trooper unit, like most geth were, and his armor was painted with black and red stripes. Its optics looked accusing, but the message was clear.

"Get off your ass Creator-Piae," Jupiter demanded, "Get suited up. We're under attack, in case you hadn't noticed, and you lying around won't help us repel this assault."

Sheila widened her eyes and shot up, snapping a salute before being at ease, "But-how did they find us sir? We used a stealth net!"

"Doesn't matter now, does it!?" Jupiter shouted, snapping a finger at the doorway, "Now get moving! Get to your locker and lets get suited up!" The geth turned to the rest of the squad present, "Let's move it greens! Most of you haven't fought Covenant, but today is going to be your lucky day! Move it you organic maggots! The clock is ticking and the enemy aren't going to wait nicely for you to get ready! RV at the main gate!  _ **Move!**_ " the geth quickly hurried from the room, his squad moving him, Sheila in their midst as they rushed for the locker room.

It didn't take long to get into gear; she grabbed her rifle and shotgun, stowed a sidearm, grabbed a handful of incendiary and frag grenades, a belt of coolers, a few energy bars to supplement her biotic abilities and donned her medium combat armor; they called it hoplite because it apparently looked like the armor of some old earth civilization, including the helmet, just without the crest on top. Suited up, they all marched outside and into the open world of Gellix.

Sheila took one look at the giant mountain capped with snow that rose like a giant spire before them. Sheila, at first, couldn't see where the hostiles were, but quickly felt the ground shake, meaning an enemy ship was entering the atmosphere. She rushed forward, gripping her carbine with intent and rushed for the main gate; the first and only line defense in the listening post.

Her squad reached the main gate just in time to watch the massive form of a Tilthan carrier cast its shadow over the 2000 foot tall mountain that loomed over them. The carrier looked like a floating box...except with armor.  _Aren't the Virtual Aliens creative._

Sheila watched with a smile as the listening posts three AAA batteries targetted areas on the carrier and opened fire, pounding the monolith's shields with heavily reinforced DU shells; a deadly weapon if in the wrong hands.  _The humans knew how to build weapons. Deadly weapons. Luckily, chemical weapons aren't illegal._ DU shells, or Depleted Uranium shells, were exactly as they sounded. With compound traces of the uranium used to make nuclear weapons, they tipped them with enough DU to melt through armor like phosphorus. The results were terrifying; one round could melt through the hull of a Wolverine APC and the flames would burn for days on end. The side effects were that the vehicles couldn't be approached; the radioactive after effects were like that of a nuked city. If the Tilthan carrier's shields collapsed, it was finished, plain and simple. Not even a Reaper could withstand it; although they tried.

Shields flared, but the tilthan ship had already offloaded its cargo; multiple kodiak and ravager shuttle craft were descending upon them, all loaded with unknown amounts of covenant troops, indoctrinated and not indoctrinated.

"Someone man that gun!" Jupiter ordered and Sheila watched James man one of the two plasma repeaters lining the wall. She had seen them in action too; watched old geth models get torn in half from the sheer heat dissipation. Nasty business.

Her began to pound from the constant 'vavoom vavoom vavoom' of the AAA guns firing, unleashing shell after shell at the carrier to no effect. DUs were only useful against armor, but shields were too powerful. But just as the shields seemed to be bursting, a blinding flash boomed from the vessel's starboard side, followed a sound like the clap of thunder. One AAA tower blew apart in a conglomeration of fire and molten debris as it rained hell over the encampment, wreckage showering all over. She heard an unlucky technician scream as she was burned alive by a piece of the molten wreckage pinning her to the ground.

The other two guns were quickly picked off and that erased any hope of destroying the carrier. Sheila felt a spark of fear appear in her veins as Jupiter ordered her to take position, the quarian crouching behind a barricade, with her rifle lowered over the nearest shuttle she could find.  _A simple mission. Then I could go home. I could finally take my boyfriend on a proper date, discuss our relationship. I could talk to mum and help her with knitting. Retire and get a proper job; dad always sad I'd be a good accountant. I never thought I'd die here. I love you mum, dad, sis. I love you Nick. Keelah Se'lai. Keelah Se'lai. Keelah Se'lai. Keelah Se'la-_

"Here they come! Ready your weapons!" Jupiter ordered and they did and Sheila snapped from her haze and focused her gaze down the scope.

The first shuttles landed, but noone stepped out, only a yahg with its omni-tool out and playing on loudspeaker. Its loud booming, mechanical voice echoed over the valley, "Humans! Quarians! Whatever fucking races you have holed up in there! Men and women of the Dominion! You serve false leaders and gods, but we shall amend that! Surrender this garrison and we shall let you live! Might even let you join our ranks! But you must drop your weapons and swear allegiance to the High Holy Covenant!"

 _I can see why they're called the Covenant. High Holy? False gods? I don't even worship a god. The ancestors protect me._ Sheila waited for Jupiter's response; the post's commanding officer must have been killed in the attack, leaving Jupiter in command.

The geth's response was quick, "I'll drop my weapons when my unit is worn with rust, you overgrown walking meat sack! All I see before, what my men see, is alot of Covenant to kill. So I will continue to serve my false leaders and false gods, whilst killing you with my false rifle, in my false armor, believing in my false creators."

"Very well!" the yahg yelled back, "We will kill all your men, rape your women, and take your children as slaves! We will enjoy watching you beg for mercy!"

Sheila felt sweat collect at her brow.  _I'll die before I let them touch me. No batarian is going to molest me. For the Dominion. In the name of The Shepard._

Jupiter fired a few shots into the air, "You'll find no easy conquest here! You'll our men yes, but our women will to, and the only mercy our children will beg for is for that on your part, as the Dominion will wreak a righteous wrath upon you all. You should have stayed in your hidey hole, you piece of shit. Tell me, where were the mighty yahg when the Reapers scourged the galaxy?  _ **Hiding on Parnack it would seem!**_ Tell your leaders, 'they can come and take this place!' If you're the leader, well, I think my rifle is middle finger enough! Troopers, fire!"

Sheila smiled and fired, her scope squared over the yahg's head. The first shot buried in his faceplate but stopped at the eye and the second pierced his skull and killed him instantly. Shuttle hatches snapped open and a horde of batarians, turians, tilthans in the bodies of mechs called 'Hosts' and yahg charged the gate, yelling war cries and firing at anything they could see while Jupiter and the main gate defense fired down at them mercilessly.

The plasma repeaters opened fire, cutting swaths down the enemy ranks, but only delaying the enemy advance by a slight margin. Sheila didn't stop; over and over her carbine continued to whine about being overheated, but again and again she fired and fired, taking down as many enemies as she could. She was going to die; better go down with as many kills as possible.

Jupiter's Javelin Mark IV sounded next to her and ripped the head off a tilthan host, leaving it dead. The tilthan hosts looked much like...what was that robot on robocop called? ED-209? Yeah, they looked like that, but much more powerful. Sheila was about to target a batarian heavy at the back when she spotted a vehicle appearing over the horizon; and a shout caught in her throat.

A Wraith Heavy Tank. How the Covenant got their hands on the Dominion vehicle was unknown, but they had, and now it gazed its teeth on them, twin cannons flaring.

Sheila screamed a warning but it was too late. Twin streaks of plasma shot forward with blinding speed and impacted the front of the gate, incinerating everything within five meters. James and Jack, the men manning the plasma repeaters, were reduced to atoms as Sheila watched on. Not much of the garrison survived the blast and those who had began to rout. Jupiter screamed at them to get back into position, Sheila noticing it was firing its sniper rifle one handed; one of its arms having been blasted off.

Sheila felt numb in the legs and looked down and immediately began to hyperventilate and turn pale from what she saw. Her right leg was gone; vaporized to a pulp and leaving only a bloody stump with red blood pooling around it. She realized she was going into shock and wanted to scream, but her voice failed her. Jupiter made its way over to her and pulled the quarian into cover, tying bandages around the bloody stump that used to be her right leg and she realized it was because of her adrenaline that she didn't feel any pain; that and the suddenness of the agony itself.

Covenant forces surged through the gatehouse and she knew it was over; they wouldn't live. She'd die here, or be raped, whichever came first, and she'd never see her family again. Never become an accountant. Never go on another date with her beloved Nick.  _Sweet human bosh'tet. If only you were here...I'd tell you how much you mean to me..._

Then another sound caught her ears; a screeching sound like that of a bug. She ignored her leg for a moment and looked at Jupiter, wandering if she had heard wrong or imagined the sound. But she hadn't, because Jupiter was quickly looking at the source; the Covenant shuttles. Its flaps shifted and immediately began to thrust its arm in the air, "Yes! Take that you pieces of scum!"

Unable to hear her, Jupiter couldn't help her up, so she thrust one arm up and gripped the railing, pulling herself up and using her left leg as a support. She looked at where Jupiter was looking and stood shocked, but quite soon, a smile wiped across her face.

The Covenant Wraith had been destroyed and the Covenant forces were in a flurry; they had no idea what was going on. They were disorganized and unable to deal with the sudden threat and they were ripped apart by the Dominion troops.

Sheila and Jupiter watched in smugness as the rachni horde poured over the enemy like they were nothing but a wall to be climbed over, hundreds of the insects finding and tearing Covenant soldiers apart. Brood warriors lead the horde, using their biotics to tear yahg apart and send tilthan hosts flying through the wall. And in the midst of it all; a krogan soldier. A single. Krogan. Soldier.

When the battle was done, the krogan approached the both of them and nodded to them, looking at the destroyed listening post before turning to face Jupiter again, "You the only survivors?"

"That we know of. Who are you? Reinforcements?" Jupiter asked.

"That we are, but not ones you called for. Your orbital stations are gone and fleet decimated. A rachni queen is ready to transport you off world. Let's just say the queen knew the perils you would face and sent me with some of her children to rescue you. She has a cruiser waiting nearby. We'll head for Trebin immediately."

Before the krogan could leave, Jupiter put a hand on his shoulder and turned him around, "You haven't answered my question trooper, who are you?"

The krogan laughed and offered Sheila a hand up, which the quarian eagerly accepted, "Urdnot Mordin, at your service."

Sheila passed out as one of the sons of the great Urdnot Wrex carried her to the evacuation point.

_**A/N:** _

_**Yeah, I bet most of you forgot about Mordin. But I haven't. And yes, I am planning for Jessica's, Thane's and Mordin's story arcs to join together eventually. You may not be interested in this part of the story arc currently, but it will get more interesting as it progresses and I hope, I can only hope, that you'll be completely hooked by the beginning of Holocaust, and that's where the best bits will be saved.** _

_**Stay tuned; 2251 will get uglier.** _

_**And considering all the content in 2251...yeah, I think I'll make a seperate information page for that. You know, for referencing.** _


	6. Hunter

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In the past, Anderson arranges a meeting between Shepard and the Alliance brass. Shepard runs into a very angry mother. Peta forms a plan to kill Shepard.

**REQUIEM**

**CHAPTER FIVE:**

**HUNTER**

_October 13, 2185_

_1231 hours._

_Docking Station 9, Shalta Docks, Shalta Wards, The Citadel._

_Commander Marcus Lee Shepard, Councilor David Edward Anderson._

Anderson watched Marcus as the commander lead him through the C-Sec Academy and into the elevator, the glass door behind them quickly shutting and the elevator ascending up to the place the new Normandy was docked at. As it ascended, the human councilor drowned out the news reports playing over the speakers to turn to Marcus, "So Shepard, how was the battle against the collectors? You didn't report much to us since your first visit to the Citadel."

Marcus sighed and allowed a weak smile to cross his face, the spectre straightened his posture and clasped his hands behind his back, "A large and tedious process, Anderson. We didn't even fight the Collectors all that much; it was mostly a long, drawn out process of recruiting the people I needed and doing their personal missions. You could say they're pretty loyal."

"Why's that? I know Garrus, Tali and Kaidan, but the others seem like unknowns to me," Anderson asked a-matter-of-factly.

"I gave them the chance to leave the ship after the destruction of the Collector Base," Marcus declared, turning his head to meet Anderson's eyes, "But they stayed with me. Every single one of them. A few Cerberus crew left, but even my mess sergeant, the engineers, my yeoman...they all told the Illusive Man to get fucked when they didn't leave the Normandy. We're a tightly-knit group now. An unusual one."

Anderson chuckled lightly, "I don't think anyone can claim the Normandy crew as anywhere near normal; especially since you now harbor a geth. Tell me Marcus, do you truly think that was a good idea?"

The man he considered a son gave him a strong gaze, "I trust Legion Anderson; its weird, I know. I barely know it, but I've got this gut feeling in my chest...it was that seem gut feeling that made me defy the Council and seek you out when we were impounded on the Citadel before Saren's attack. The same gut feeling that told me the Reapers were real. The one that told me that I loved-" he cut himself off, "That gut feeling has never let me down Anderson; I've learnt to trust it. And its telling me to trust Legion. That I can trust it. I'm going to follow my gut."

"You've rarely been wrong Mark. And I know you; you wouldn't trust it so easily if you knew it wouldn't betray you. I believe you. Just as I believed you about the Reapers," he sighed.  _If only Udina could work that stick out of his ass and do the same. But he'd rather pout and kiss the Council's asses then acknowledge the truth right infront of him. I doubt the Council has even come around...they'll probably find a way to deny everything Shepard's set out._

Then he realized and old mishap and turned to Marcus again, smiling, "Also Marcus, you can just call me David. I think you've earned that much, don't you think?"

The spectre chuckled; that same charming smile. That same smile Hannah, his mother, used to adore. Anderson had always been like a father to Marcus ever since his father died in the First Contact War. The ex-captain knew Marcus was special when he didn't develop a racist attitude towards turians after that. Most kids who lost a father during that period would have turned to Cerberus or the Terra Firma Party, and god help us if those scumbags grew any further. After that, Anderson had supported Marcus' plans to join the marines, trained him himself and was there for him after Akuze and Torfan when his mother couldn't be.

"Sure thing...David," Marcus replied, "Although its going to take some time getting used to."

"Don't blame you. I don't you're crew, or anyone else who knows you, will be able to get over calling you Shepard," Anderson joked, inwardly wondering when the SSV Orizaba would dock with the Citadel.  _One hell of a surprise; for both of them. As far as Hannah knows, its just another political meeting. I just hope Udina doesn't turn up; last thing we need is him souring the mood with his lectures and talks of political shit-storms._

The elevator arrived and opened, allowing Marcus to step out, Anderson in tow. When he was fully out in the open, Anderson had to gape at the size of the new Normandy. She wasn't quite the size of a destroyer, but she was pretty damn close. He almost forgot about the Cerberus logo and the colors to accompany it that adorned the hull, in awe of how much bigger the SR-2 was compared to the SR-1.

Noticing he had stopped, Marcus looked at him and smiled, "She big enough for you, Anderson?"

The man laughed, "Be careful Mark; the Alliance brass sees this, they might try to steal it from you."

The spectre let out a low chuckle, jabbing a thumb at his vessel, "They'd have to try really hard. My crew wouldn't give the ship up unless I ordered them to."

"I don't doubt it," Anderson admitted, motioning towards the ship's airlock, "So, Commander Marcus Lee Shepard, are you going to give me a tour of your vessel or not? The outside is very pretty, but I think its the interior I came to see."

Marcus nodded and both of them walked into the frigate's airlock, waiting for the decontamination sequence to run its course before the second airlock door opened and omitted them into the vessel. At first, Anderson didn't really notice anything all that different about the Normandy, but when he stepped onto the cross between the flight deck and the cockpit, his jaw almost dropped when he saw the sheer size of the CIC.  _Its huge! Has to be two times as big as the one on the SR-1!_ The Galaxy Map table was different as well; the front was occupied by a hologram of the ship itself with a promptable cross-section layout and the galaxy map lay behind it. He was surprised Cerberus even incorporated that into the ship; it was a turian design.

"Hey, Commander. I've got something to-whoa! Captain Anderson!" The councilor turned around and faced the cockpit, smiling as his eyes came to meet those of the familiar and always likable pilot.

"I'm a councilor Joker, remember?" Anderson stated.

The pilot shrugged, grinning like he always did, "You're still the captain I used to remember."

Anderson gave an amused glance in Marcus' direction, "This smartass giving you trouble?"

"He's still prone to bad jokes and sarcasm, if that's what you're asking," Marcus retorted, "And he's still the great pilot he's always been."

Joker feigned offense, "Best, not great, nor good. I'm  _the_ pilot. Give me the Normandy and I make her dance for you; just don't make me stand up and dance or...well, unless you like the sound of snapping shinbones."

"I'd prefer not to have to page Doctor Chakwas Jeff," an unfamiliar synthetic voice spoke. Anderson tried to find the source but stopped as his eyes landed on a hovering, pawn-shaped blue orb hovering over a pad next to Joker's pilot seat. Had he heard it right?  _A VI doesn't 'prefer' to do anything, it does what its programmed to do. Seriously Mark, how many AIs do you have?_

"Another AI Mark? I guess keeping this out of the sight of the Council was a good idea. One AI is bad enough, especially when its a geth, but two AIs?"

"Her name is EDI," Joker introduced her, "And she's not bad. TIM had her installed into the ship when he built the Normandy. Shepard and I didn't trust her at first...but she's alright. She's more than earned my trust...especially when she saved me. She cares about the crew, and I think she's...a friend, not just a computer. She's proven herself trustworthy."

"Saved you?" Anderson asked with confusion, looking at the spectre next to him, "What happened?"

"We were lured to Eden Prime on the pretenses the Collectors would soon abduct the colony. We were hoping to repel them," Marcus told him, looking down at the deck plating, "We learnt too late that it was a trap set up by Harbinger and the Collectors to lure us off the ship so they could abduct the crew. They would have gotten Joker too, but he was forced to unshackle EDI and give her control of the ship. He thought that when he did it; the AI would try and kill him, but instead she activated FTL and saved him and the ship. I've trusted her ever since, as has the rest of the crew. Even Tali doesn't mind her."

"Fair enough. I trust your judgment on the matter, just keep her out of sight. If you want people renovating this ship, you'd better keep your geth and EDI out of sight otherwise they might flip out and it could end badly. And you mentioned a Harbinger. Who's that? Another Reaper?"

"Yes, but not just any Reaper Anderson. It was their leader," Marcus declared.

Anderson grinned widely, "So you blew him up along with the Collectors."

Marcus shook his head sadly, scratching the light stubble on his chin that served as a beard, "No, we didn't. Harbinger wasn't never there; he was controlling the Collectors through the collector general, which in turn was being controlled through a station relay that connected to the Reaper fleet in dark space. He's still out there, as is the other thousands of Reapers waiting to invade, but we know they're coming, and sooner than we'd like. We did blow up that Human-Reaper though; so I guess that counts."

Anderson whistled, looking impressed, "You've killed two Reapers so far Marcus; you've definitely caught their attention."

He nodded, smiling, "Indeed I have; we've probably pissed off every Reaper out there...or impressed them. I don't know Anderson..."

"Yeah, Sovereign seemed to be all about wiping us all out," Joker piped in, gaining both of their attention, "But Harbinger was preaching about ascension, and 'we are your salvation through destruction!' Then some shit about a prophecy and a destiny Shepard had to fullfill. It was real interested in the commander; you'd have to be blind not to see that the Reapers are clearly interested in you Shepard."

"Maybe they percieve as me as such a large threat that they want to try and soften me up and make their cause look justified," Marcus responded, turning to Anderson and motioning down the flight deck, "If so, they'll have a hard time convincing me. I'm not going to sacrifice trillions of lives to the Reapers just because they lectured me about 'my destiny.' Not to mention I've got too many people I care about."

 _We all do Shepard. We all do._ With that, Anderson followed Marcus down the flight deck, admiring the new features of the ship as he went by, trying to avoid the gazes of the ex-Cerberus crew. But as he passed them, he heard them snapping salutes or nodding at him as they passed by.  _Salutes? I didn't know Cerberus was big on professionalism. Or maybe that's because Shepard's ingrained a sense of military discipline into them. Good._

As they moved through the CIC, they stopped next to the terminal of a red-haired young woman wearing a checkered shirt and jeans. When she saw them, she gave a weak smile and turned to them, snapping a salute for Marcus, "Shepard," she greeted before turning to the councilor and offering him a handshake, "And you must be Councilor Anderson. Its such an honor to meet you, sir."

He nodded and took her hand in his, shaking it firmly, "The honor is all mine, Miss...?"

Her smile growed somewhat bigger, "Chambers, Kelly Chambers. I'm the commander's yeoman. I used to work for the Illusive Man, but I cut loose along with the rest of the crew after the attack on the Collector Base," having greeted Anderson, she turned back to Marcus, "Commander, just so you know, Kasumi and I bought those new uniforms you wanted. The special set you requested are in a box outside your cabin; I got Kasumi to take them up there for you."

"Thank you Kelly," Marcus thanked, patting her on the shoulder, "You okay?"

Her smile dimmed alittle but she perked up to keep up her image, "I'll be fine, commander. Its all over now; I'll get over it. Chakwas has, so has Lia and everyone else. Just me now. The nightmares will end soon; but if you ever need my help, I assure you I will not falter."

"Glad to hear it Kelly," the spectre thanked, giving her one more reassuring before motioning towards a door leading into an area labelled the 'Tech Lab.' Anderson gave Miss Chambers one more passing glance before they stepped through the door and into an empty box of a room where another door waited. He cleared his throat, turning to Marcus as they continued.

"She was...unexpected," Anderson admitted.

Marcus nodded, stopping just before he tapped the holographic interface to open the door into the lab, facing the councilor, "Most of the crew aren't what you expect from Cerberus, David; trust me, I was surprised too. But these are really good people, and they aren't tied to Cerberus anymore, so I trust them. Not with my life, but I trust them. Now, I'd like you to meet Professor Mordin Solus."

He nodded, "You mentioned him in the debrief with the Council. I'm curious to meet him."

Marcus nodded, palming the interface and opening the door, which omitted them into quite a long stretch of room. Technical and scientific equipment was set up all over, along with holographic work stations and numerous other areas assiociated with the virtues of science. And occupying the main work station infront of a observation port, was a salarian in a white labcoat, one of his two horns missing. He seemed to be moving back and forth, one hand touching his chin in thought while his assistant, Anderson guessed; a quarian with a flowing light green veil tightly wrapping her petite form, an aqua blue visor shielding her facial features. She was shorter than Tali, but definitely wasn't an engineer if she was working in here.

"You think scale itch got on Normandy via Cerberus crew. Interesting. Source irrelevant however. Need solution, not hypothesis. Cannot think of that now," the salarian named Mordin Solus rambled to his quarian assistant, who was typing away at a terminal and seemed to be offering him suggestions. Marcus and himself just stood there and watched, waiting to be noticed.

"Yes, but if we can calculate the source of distribution, we can determine not only the point of entry, but also how to successfully combat it. Scale itch is a sexually transmitted disease, and its only communicable by varren, so..."

Mordin took a deep breath, "Implications unpleasant, Miss Vael. However, hypothesis correct. Very good. Determine source, develop countermeasures. Suggestions?"

The quarian nodded eagerly, turning from her terminal, "The first step would be to call in the host and run a check on him/her. Once done, we can run a search on the extranet for similiar cases and see how others treated it. Using their progress, we can develop our own strategy for counteracting the effects of the scale itch."

"Excellent," Mordin complimented about to continue when he finally noticed Marcus and Anderson waiting patiently. The salarian smiled, causing the quarian to turn around and almost jump when she saw them. Instead, she saluted shakily, "Captain Shepard! I didn't see you there; I'm so sorry."

"Don't apologize," Marcus replied, deciding to not push the topic of scale itch, something which Anderson was thankful for. But why did the quarian call him captain? A question for later perhaps, "Just wanted to introduce you to Councilor Anderson, a good friend of mine. I'm giving him a tour of the ship."

"Councilor!" the quarian greeted, snapping another salute for the man, "I am Lia'Vael nar Ulnay, a pleasure to meet you! I'm Mordin's assistant!"

"Yes yes, very exciting prospect," Mordin piped up from Lia's side, the salarian now addressing Anderson, "Heard much about you. Largely responsible for saving Citadel. Former N7. Ran for spectre, ruined by Saren Arterius," he held up his three-fingered hands to delay any shocked responses, "Former STG operative; hear alot within office. Retired now, ran clinic on Omega, serve on Normandy ship. Good ship. Good crew. Good commander. Many interesting things. Excellent set up. Enjoy the challenge," the salarian took a deep breath, "Work is relaxing. Stressful work more fun. Sing Gilbert and Sullivan when off duty."

Anderson was overwhelmed by the salarian's hyper talking speed, but he guessed he shouldn't be surprised, since the salarian brain could comprehend things faster than any other living being in existence, "I see Shepard doesn't settle for the average soldier. I've heard much about you myself, Professor Solus. You've made quite a name for yourself in the galaxy; your clinic on Omega among one of them. I heard you cured it."

Mordin gave a cocky smile, "Had to be me. Someone else might have gotten it wrong," the salarian turned to Marcus, still smiling, "Much work to do, nice to meet former captain. Scale itch on Normandy. Also, would like to speak privately later. Doctor-patient confidentiality. Pertains to relationship with Miss Zorah." With that, the salarian gave him the salarian equivalent and returned back to his desk, talking to Lia as he did, "Now, focus on scale itch. Could you please ask Crewman Goldstein..."

By the time Mordin started his next lecture with Lia, Marcus was leading Anderson out of the tech lab and out an alternative door, down an unusual corridor. Anderson laughed inside his head.  _A salarian and quarian scientist working together to take down a STD transmitted by varren? Shepard attracts the oddest types._ Marcus stopped, opening a door to the left that opened up into a box like room with a single table in the middle, a hologram of the Normandy in the middle. "That's our new debriefing room," Marcus told him, continuing to lead him into an area labelled as the 'Armoury.'

The room was the exact same size as the Tech Lab, except this room lived up to its name in its own way. Weapon's lockers lined the left side of the room and the rest was occupied by benches covered in numerous different types of weaponry; ranging from the standard pistol to even the M-920 Cain. Anderson even saw what he thought to be a geth pulse rifle, along with a geth plasma shotgun, most likely gifts from the geth platform they called 'Legion.' The allocation of the armoury was an obvious design flaw; if anyone boarded the ship and captured the CIC, they'd also immediately capture the armoury, allowing them to secure two vital areas of the ship in a single attack.  _Cerberus doesn't understand military operations as well as they think they do._

Taking another look of the room, he began to just see the extent of the damage done on the ship. Some of the terminals in the CIC didn't seem to work, there had been multiple holes in the ceiling of the flight deck, a collapsed beam and a flickering light at the back of the Tech Lab and the Armoury had cracked glass observation window over looking what he assumed to the drive core and a beam that had crushed one of the benches. The debriefing room was the worst effected; wires hung from the ceiling and a collapsed beam had once barred the entrance.

"Councilor Anderson? A pleasure sir!" he heard an african-american accent sound from across the room. He turned to see a man with similiar dark-colored skin, snapping a salute in what looked to be a Cerberus uniform, but with the Cerberus insignias now missing, obviously ripped off as a symbol of how he'd abandoned Cerberus and the Illusive Man. He held a salute and as Anderson turned, he saw he wasn't alone, with another quarian, this one a male, and Kaidan, both holding salutes. Anderson smiled, "At ease. I'm not military anymore, soldiers."

"You're not a politician either sir," Kaidan stated, dropping his hand as the others quickly did, "Shepard's the best soldier I've seen, but you'll always be a captain to me sir. A pity you couldn't be with us when we took the fight to the Collectors. We really showed them not to mess with humanity."

"I'm sure you did, but I'm afraid my days as an N7 are definitely over," Anderson replied, looking at the two men who's names he didn't know, "And what are your names troopers?"

"Second Lieutenant Jacob Taylor sir. I once worked with the Alliance corsairs before I joined Cerberus. Don't worry though, I've devoted my loyalty solely to Shepard now," Jacob told him, cracking his knuckles, "He knows what's right and the Illusive Man clearly doesn't. I prefer to follow men with morals, not men with hidden goals set to screw you over."

"Glad you see that way Second Lieutenant Taylor," Anderson replied, shaking the man's hand with a firm grip, turning to the quarian, "And you are?"

The quarian snapped a second salute. From what Anderson saw of him, he wore a red, tightly knit veil and had a strong muscular posture. His mask was dark black and he carried himself with the authority of a commander, "Major General Kal'Reegar vas Normandy, Migrant Fleet Marines, sir."

Anderson raised an eyebrow, "Major General?" He turns to Marcus with a grin, "It would seem he outranks you, Commander."

Kal shook his head, "A captain's authority supercedes mine on a ship. He commands the ship and the team, and he's definitely a better soldier than me, so I'll follow him no matter the rank anyway. I've seen noone who can fight like the commander."

"Whats with the quarians and calling you captain?" Anderson asked incredulously, "You're still a commander, are you not?"

"I am, but its a quarian thing. Anyone who commands a ship is a captain to them. Its more of a title than it is a rank. A term of respect," Marcus taught him.

Anderson creased his mouth in impression, "You must have really done alot for them if they're calling you a captain. Well, I'm sure you've got more of the ship to show me. Shall we?"

"Right this way sir," and with that, Marcus lead Anderson out of the armoury and into the elevator. If the councilor thought he'd seen the oddest of the Shepard crew, he obviously hadn't been paying attention.

**{Loading...}**

_October 15, 2185_

_1300 hours._

_Captain's Quarters, Normandy-Class Stealth Frigate Normandy SR-2, Docked with the Citadel._

_Commander Marcus Lee Shepard._

Marcus growled in frustration as he once again looked at himself in the mirror in the shower cubicle of his cabin once more, noticing again that one of the buttons of his dress uniform had come undone again. With growing annoyance, he undid all the buttons and contemplated simply taking the chaffing outfit off and going in his hoodie. Damn what the admirals thought.  _No, I have to look professional. I have to show them the level of respect they deserve._

_Respect? Like how they respected you when they just gave up on you, smeared you as a raving lunatic and swept the Reaper threat under the rug? They were probably colloborating with the Council, just waiting for me to die so they could just forget about the whole threat all together. The Alliance abandoned you, why should you show them any respect?_

Marcus shook away those thoughts, not allowing them to corrupt his state of mind.  _That's just childish. And what about Anderson? He didn't abandon me; the Alliance told him I was dead and he probably didn't have any proof to refute them. And for all intents and purposes, I_ _ **was**_ _dead. Doesn't justify them lying about dealing with the Reapers, but it did somewhat clear them alittle. I have to be professional! If I want these people to work with me, I have to show them the respect their due. I cannot fuck this up._

He sighed as he moved back to the source of his frustration; those damnable buttons. He had recently had a shower, combed his hair back and made sure to shave alittle before putting on the alliance naval uniform provided to him by Anderson yesterday. His Commander's bars were pinned on the left breast and his Star of Terra on his right. Marcus had originally had his old Lieutenant Commander's bars from two years ago, but they were lost along with the SR-1. The uniform was official, but god did it seem to choke him, almost as if it was trying to squeeze the life out of him.  _I feel like a scarecrow in this piece of shit. How do admirals get around in these things? How does Anderson?_

This was it; the important meeting cross alliance debrief. He wasn't rejoining the Alliance, for all purposes, he was now a spectre, and this was a spectre ship, the Council had sure it was recognized as that. The Council had even split the funds with the Alliance when Anderson finally convinced Hackett to fund repairs for the Normandy, which numbered in the hundreds of millions, including the new paintjob and additional stuff. But there was one more thing he wanted built into the Normandy that wasn't needed, but would be a special surprise.

He would speak with the Alliance Joint Command about attacking Walker Station, along with efforts to convince the Arcturus Parliament to increase funds towards military production of weapons, warships; solely dreadnoughts, and many other things. The Council was still in talks about the dreadnought production; the Treaty of Farixen limited the amount of dreadnoughts any one species could have, but they would have to look past that if they wanted to beat the Reapers. A treaty wasn't going to stop them, warships would. The time to act was now, and Marcus would play a decisive role in it. He had one shot, and he couldn't mess it up.

He didn't even hear the cubicle door open as he focused on the buttons on his shirt. But he quickly took notice when two slender arms ending in small, three-fingered hands, wrapped around his waist and a warm body pressed into him from behind him. He smiled, turning away from the shirt, and holding Tali's arms, looking into the mirror and watching as the quarian lay her head on his shoulder, biolumiscent eyes meeting his in the frame of the mirror. No communication was needed; they simply stood there, holding each other. He arched his back into her, allowing himself to melt into her grip.

After a few minutes of silence, she sighed and appeared to smile behind her purple mask, "Nice uniform; you look very...handsome in it."

"I'm not feeling it," Marcus replied with a sigh, "Bloody thing feels like a choke hold on my entire body."

Tali giggled, letting go of him and looking at him further in the mirror, "I heard you growling in here; angry with something?"

"These damn buttons keep coming undone," Marcus told her, fumbling at the works of the devil, "I swear they were made to make people go insane."

"Turn around," she ordered and he did so, turning fully to face her. He smiled and watched as she reached up, grabbed at one of the buttons and began doing them up for him, "I was only up here to grab something, but I guess I could help you with your button crisis."

"I don't sound that fussy, do I?" Marcus asked, unable to believe the words coming from her mouth.  _Button crisis? Not something an intelligent mind expects to say._ He watched as she continued to systematically do up all the buttons for him, smiling at his question.

"If buttons can make you go insane Marcus, I don't want to know what sends the Reapers insane," not waiting for an answer, she finished for him and straightened out his uniform, patting out any creases. For a moment afterwards, they both just stood there, looking at each other. After a moment or so, he leaned forward, resting his forehead against her visor and just sighing, closing his eyes. He expected she did as well.

"This entire meeting rests on me Tali," he finally spoke up over the peaceful silence, "If I screw this up..."

Tali wasn't having any of it, "You won't. I've seen your speeches Marcus, the way you talk to people, how you inspire them, how you gain loyalty through simple words. You have a gift that's rare among others,  _yol'tiya._ You are not only unstoppable on the battlefield, a brilliant charismatic individual, but you are also a skilled speaker who inspires loyalty in ways others couldn't imagine. You are also good at wooing women, I'll give you that."

Marcus chuckled out loud and shook his head, "And what sort of women are we talking about?"

Tali blushed behind her mask, burying it into his neck, "No one in particular..."

He sighed, opening his eyes and using both hands to stroke the sides of her helmet, "Thanks Tali; I don't know what I'd do with myself if you weren't here. I feel like I'm just another soldier when you're not around; you're the one thing that keeps me going. Thank you."

"Whenever you need me," Tali promised, earning herself a kiss on the hood, which she reciprocated by tapping her mask on his forehead. With a cheeky grin, she leaned forward, swaying her hips seductively, and whispered in his ear, "You know...I'm not sick anymore, and if you'd rather release some stress..."

He immediately goosebumps on his skin at the whisper of her voice and the warmth radiating off her body. His heartbeat increased and he felt himself wrapping his arms around her and returning her smile, "How would you suggest doing so?"

"By giving you some motivation," Tali told him, hand sliding down the front of his pants and finding her target, beginning to squeeze and rub that area, stroking it as much as she dared, all the while looking at him. It wasn't long before Marcus was fully erect and before he could move in, she slid out from under him and rushed out the door, laughing as she did. Marcus just stood there, shock on his face, a buldge in his pants. He went to follow her, but she was already running out the door, waving sarcastically at him as she went past, door closing behind her.

"You're evil woman," he scoffed, turning back to the mirror and checking over himself once more, deciding to stay put until his erection died off, not wanting the whole CIC to see him in that undignified state.  _I'll get back at her. She wants to play? Okay, we'll play._ When he got back, he'd research ways to tap into quarian suit systems. He knew just what he wanted to do, and how to do it. With a sigh, having been satisfied with how he looked and his manhood going limp, he left the cabin and entered the elevator, hitting the button for the CIC deck.

Once down, he quickly made his way down the CIC and up the flight deck, reciprocating each salute the crew gave him as he went past, stopping at the cockpit. EDI popped up on the holopad right next to him on record time, "A skycar is awaiting you outside commander. Garrus insisted he come as a bodyguard, saying he doesn't want to take any chances with Cerberus chasing you, especially due to your current predicament."

"I can look after myself, but I appreciate the backup," Marcus told the AI and she flickered out of existence, appearing again next to Joker's console. The spectre immediately noticed the large grin plastered on Joker's face, and sighed.

"Damn commander," Joker whistled, "You lookin like a true soldier. With tha blue collar, and commander's bars, and that chaffing look..."

"Joker."

"...but I bet all the women are going to be all over you in that suit, especially..."

" _Joker._ "

"...can't resist can you Shepard? But don't worry, I'm sure you'll be able to..."

"JOKER!"

"What, what is it?" Joker asked, grin still on his face and obviously enjoying his commander's new uncomfortable position, "Don't worry Shepard, your secret is safe with-"

Suddenly, his chair turned back around, cutting him off mid sentence and facing the main console. Joker lost his mirth and tried to turn his chair around, but found that he couldn't. Seeing as the culprit was obvious, Marcus smirked and looked at EDI's console, nodding, "Thanks EDI."

" _ **I am the harbinger of your ascension. Joker will be my slave**_ ," EDI responded.

They both went silent and Joker and Marcus simply looked at EDI with horrified glances. After a few awkward moments, EDI spoke up again, "That was a joke."

"Christ EDI!" Joker let out a breath, not knowing he had held it in, "Don't scare us like that! I think I almost pissed myself!"

"At least she's learning from the best," before Joker could retort that, Marcus was out of the cockpit and in the airlock, waiting for the decontamination unit to run its course. Once it was done, he moved out onto the docks and moved over to the skycar where Garrus was waiting...

But it wasn't just Garrus waiting; the turian was in full armor and had his mattock rifle on his back, but Grunt was also with him, along with Thane. He approached the car, shaking his head as the trio noticed him and Garrus' mandibles flexed into the grin.

"EDI told me you were coming Garrus, but you brought Grunt and Thane as well? Don't you think that's a bit obsessive?" Marcus asked, but just before he finished speaking, he heard the familiar sound of feet behind him. He rolled his eyes and looked at Garrus again, "You brought Kasumi too? What are you planning for, an assault?"

Kasumi uncloaked beside him, crossing her arms and leaning against the car while pouting, "You still owe me an explanation of how you do that."

Garrus lost his grin and placed a taloned hand on one of his shoulders, "Cerberus are unpredictable bastards, Shepard. You yourself should know that underestimating them is a bad idea; we can't take any chances, especially with the entire alliance admiralty gathered. We're your bodyguard, and there's nothing you can say that can make me leave. I know Tali would probably do anything to protect you, but...well...I don't think she needs to know."

"Agreed," Marcus told the turian, motioning into the skycar, "Shall we?"

The ride to the Human Embassy, where the meeting would take place, was boring and pretty uneventful. Marcus sat in the driver's seat, guiding the vehicle through the cityscape. Grunt sat silently, as did Thane who was in silent meditation, whilst Kasumi and Garrus gave back and forth banter between one other like some kind of old married couple.  _For all I know, they could actually be in a relationship, but lets not jump to conclusions._

Finally, after what seemed like hours, the skycar arrived outside the Citadel Embassies and they all marched out of the vehicle, Marcus leading the way in his alliance uniform with Garrus leading his praetorian guard behind him. Garrus had his mattock heavy rifle, Grunt his claymore heavy shotgun, Thane his phalanx heavy pistol and Kasumi her Locust SMG, which she had taken from Hock's vault when they raided it a...month ago? God, he couldn't even remember.

Apparently they needn't had bothered; alliance marines patrolled the area and when Marcus went past them and approached the entrance to the human embassy, he was surprised to see a full squad of N7 operatives guarding the entrance, all dressed up in red and white N7 armor, helmets on and N7 weapons at their hips or in lower parry.

As his team approached the entrance, one N7, a woman by the looks of it, raised a hand and stopped him, "Who are you and what's your business here?"

 _I thought my uniform would have told you._ "I'm Commander Shepard, I'm here for the meeting, trooper. Surprised to see some fellow N7s here."

"Security. Brass is paranoid, especially after you dumped Cerberus. They're convinced Cerberus will do anything to kill you now, including the death of your former superiors. Good to know you're making us proud sir," the woman replied, raising her omni-tool to do a scan of him. Once done, she deactivated her omni-tool and looked at him, "I see no weapons on you, but I'm afraid your friends here are going to have to stay here."

Marcus jabbed a thumb behind him to indicate his team, "These guys? They're here for the same reason you are. They'll stay out here and help with security. I hope you don't mind."

The N7 seemed to eye Grunt with weariness but finally broke off her gaze to look back at her fellow N7, "That's fine with me, sir. My team are more than willing to cooperate."

"I'm going in with the commander," Garrus declared just before he entered. Marcus stopped and turned to the turian, but the N7 commander had already first.

"I'm sorry sir, but orders are orders. No one is allowed in there accept the brass and Shepard. The contents of that meeting are not for your ears. Please back away."

"For an N7, you should know the necessities of having a guard in the actual conference room," Garrus told him, pointing inside, "If Cerberus launches an attack, they won't brute force their way through, they'll make sure to neatralize any threats first. They'll most likely lock this door and then deploy troops through vents. They'll sneak inside, kill the brass and by the time you open that door, they'll all be gone. Now, if I were in there, I might be able to protect them."

Marcus smiled at the turian's thinking, turning to the N7 who contemplated the turian's words, "Hard to argue with a turian on strategy, soldier. Let him through and I'll make sure I take full responsibility."

"Very well sir," the N7 replied, snapping a salute.

"You honor your uniform, soldier. Keep up the good work," and with that, Marcus went inside, Garrus in tow. And, to his knowledge, Kasumi had as well, her cloak at work once again. She would most likely stay in cloak for the majority of the meeting, until of course Cerberus attacked, or if they ever attacked.

Garrus took Kasumi and they quickly retreated to the back of the room, to many of the admiral's suspicion. One admiral; Fleet Admiral Kastanie Drescher of the Second Fleet objected in her thick german accent, standing from her seat, "What is a turian doing in here? I thought security was informed to keep them out!"

"I'll take responsibility," Marcus dictated, taking a vacant seat at the end of the table next to Anderson, "I'll save you the details; but trust me, having Garrus in here is more beneficial to security then you know. If Cerberus ever attacked, or any other hostile party, Garrus could protect us better than a team outside could."

Drescher wasn't convinced, "I've barely known you Shepard, but I'm already not very impressed. You can't just let a  _turian_ in here! He could feed this information to the turian hierarchy! We can't sensitive military information fall into the hands of those dinos! We should-"

Another, more gruff and tired voice interrupted the admiral, "Oh, for the love of everyone in this room, please stop your whining Drescher and sit down. That turian is Garrus Vakarian, the very man who saved this god forsaken station two years ago. His loyalty is with Shepard and he has no record of ever serving in the turian military for more than the compulsory conscription he was given. He has no contacts in the hierarchy except his father, and Hierarch Vakarian hasn't been in contact with him for years. Its your paranoia that's allowed Terra Firma to spread its weeds, Drescher. Now sit down, shut up, and listen, and you might just learn something."

He quickly learned that the tired old voice came from none other than Fleet Admiral of the Navy Joseph Garrong himself. He was of canadian descent, guessing by the accent, and didn't wear the navy blue cap most alliance navy officials wore while on official duty. He had a thick beard that was so long, that it looked like it hadn't been shaved in months. It was prickly and used to be a rich chestnut color, but was now tethered with occasional bursts of white. His hair had once been the same color, and he wore a thick, bushy moustache that reminded him of General Robert E. Lee from the American Civil War.

Marcus examined the room and basically every admiral by name; Fleet Admiral Adina Netanyahu of the First Fleet, Israeli descent, and in charge of the defense of Arcturus Station, the seat of the Systems Alliance Parliament. It also guards the Charon/Sol Relay and the Sol System in general. She was a beautiful young woman who had acellerated in the ranks faster than any other known admiral due to her natural ability to lead. She was a brunette, with supple cheeks, blue eyes and a small nose. She held herself with an air of authority, but seemed to be the least hardass of the admiralty.

Kastanie Drescher of the Second Fleet, German descent, and in charge of the defense of the colony of Elysium. Her fleet's most notable achievements were the liberation of Shanxi from turian occupation during the final days of the First Contact War. Since then, Drescher herself had always had a huge distrust for turians, and aliens in general. She was far older than Adina, nearing sixty. She had auburn hair and looked surprisingly attractive for a woman of her age, but had a large scar across her cheek from an unknown wound. Her personality was obvious.

Nitesh Singh of the Third Fleet, Indian descent, and in charge of sharing the defense of Arcturus Station with First Fleet, but largely maintaining it due to Adina's fleet's dual defense roles. He had a thick indian accent and was largely dark-skinned, with long, brown hair tied up in a ponytail behind his cap. He mostly kept to himself and didn't seem highly opinionated, mostly keeping quiet until his suggestion on something was needed.

Viktoriya Arefyev of the Fourth Fleet, Russian descent, and was most likely a reserve fleet that hung around Jump Zero, but now had donated a few ships to the New Citadel Defense Fleet. She was highly one-sided, was almost always throat-to-throat with Drescher and was a supporter of the Alliance Communist Party. Word was that she had married a turian, which was one of the reasons Drescher disliked her. She had light skin and crimson hair that she rarely ever tied up.

He knew Hackett of the Fifth Fleet and was good friends with him; he was largely seriousness, had white hair and a heavy white stubble on his chin, and had eyes that commanded respect. The man was by far the most famous of the nine admirals in the room, and not just because his fleet helped destroy Sovereign and save the Citadel.

Osamu Nakamura of the Sixth Fleet, Japanese descent, was largely unimpressive. He was highly imperialistic, to be sure, but he was largely infamous for leading a fleet better than he did at political meetings. That was about as much as he knew of the man. He had no hair that Marcus could see and his face was a wrinkled mess.

Chang Teoh of the Seventh Fleet, Chinese descent, was highly subjugative and Marcus swore he could have been a Cerberus supporter in his past life. His own xenophobia was bounds above Drescher and it even got to the point where Chang had to be ordered to step down after he cried for a war against the Council. Chang didn't meet Marcus' eyes or even acknowledge his presence, and he understood why.

Duncan Ward of the Eighth Fleet, British descent, was something different. He wasn't neutral, narrow-minded, xenophobic, or even that charismatic. He had a dull history, with a dull voice and a dull opinion. Even his name was dull. The man had no close friends to speak of, no wife, no children and certainly noone who respected him. He was just another ordinary man. Even his face was relatively ordinary; brown eyes, smooth ears, wrinkled cheeks and a neat double chin above his neck.

The entire alliance admiralty; sitting before him. Now he just had to hope that they'd listen.

Joseph Garrong, who sat at the head of the table, as was his position as supreme commander of the Alliance Navy, started the meeting, his eyes meeting Marcus', "We've been called here to deal with a threat thought long dead two years ago. The Council had dumped the idea..."

"And for a good reason," Viktoriya added.

Joseph seemingly ignored her and continued, "...due to lack of proof, but it would seem proof has been provided. The Reapers do indeed exist and are coming. Councilor Anderson called this meeting of the admiralty to discuss plans on how to deal with this incoming threat."

"Shepard is our best source of information on how to fight the Reapers. He's fought them; his ship destroyed one, and he destroyed another recently. A Human-Reaper. A threat created because the Alliance decided to ignore our colonies in the Traverse and the Terminus. We allowed that abomination to be created," Anderson chastised.

"We did our best to defend our colonies!" Chang objected, "We even sent Staff Commander Alenko to oversee one of those operations on Horizon. We knew Cerberus was behind those attacks."

"It was the Collectors actually, which is why you're defenses on Horizon barely even fazed them," Marcus intervened, "Matters nill now anyway. I took a team beyond the Omega 4 Relay and wiped out the Collectors and their base at the source, taking their abomination with it. They are no longer a threat and we should focus on the real threat; the Reapers."

"I'm still not convinced these things even exist," Drescher interrupted, "Could be an elaborate hoax to find an excuse for war. The Council sees us violating the treaty, and they have an excuse to go to war with us."

"Come on Drescher, even you're smart enough to know bullshit when you here it," Adina spat, "If the Council wanted to go to war with us, they would. They don't no excuses. The whole galaxy barely trusts our species as it is; that's all the fuel they need. This Reaper threat is real, especially if the Council has finally admitted it. Stubborn bastards denied it for a whole two years."

"We can worry about that when we get to it," Marcus stated, leaning forward, "I wanted to talk about keeping Cerberus checked."

"We've heard of this plan," Hackett replied, "How exactly do you want this play out, commander?"

"Quite simple; I know the location of one of their drydocks and will forward the coordinates to you. Attack the facility and use the information in its databanks to keep Cerberus checked by securing all the facilities you can find. Eventually, that'll force the Illusive Man to get in line and we'll have Cerberus on our side when the Reapers finally arrive."

"You want us to ally with Cerberus?" Adina asked incredulously, turning in her seat swiftly, "Are you serious?"

"Allies, not friends admiral," Anderson responded on his behalf.

Marcus nodded, "Cerberus knows what we're facing; the Reapers are a threat to everything we know. They know that they'll have to put aside their differences and prejudices if they want to beat them. They'll have no choice but to join forces with us. The Illusive Man is a stubborn man and loves doing things his way, but if we check all his facilities, he'll have no chance but to conform to stop losing more of his resources. While that happens; I will travel to the Migrant Fleet to begin talks on an alliance."

"The Migrant Fleet," Chang scoffed, "You want us to ally ourselves with suit-rats? What use are they anyway? They're ships would fall apart and their ships flee like cowards before the Reaper ships even meet their's in combat."

"That attitude will get you harvested admiral, so I suggest you keep your narrow oesophagus shut before I close it myself," Marcus hissed before regaining his professionalism, "The quarians have the largest fleet in the galaxy and they know AIs better than any of us; having them on our side will be essential to any war effort we make. Their ships maybe old, but they can put a fight, no doubt about that," he stopped for a second, thinking over his next few words.  _This is it. Its all or nothing,_ "...but that's where it gets difficult. A friend of mine, Legion, is going to help me get into contact with the geth to broker a-"

Osamu moved forward, eyes widened, as did everyone else. Joseph showed a second of mild surprise, but quickly hid it. Osamu yelled his incredulousism, "The  _geth!?_ Are you insane? Those synthetic monstrosities work with the Reapers, according to your reports! That and they only want the destruction of all organic life! The Eden Prime War proved that!"

"That's where you're wrong admirals," Anderson stated, giving an opening for Marcus to continue, which he did.

He explained to them about the Heretics, and how the true geth want to stop the Reapers just as much as anyone else, and he told them about everything else Legion had told him. After a bit, he let them process this new information before Adina spoke up, "How can we trust this geth? And if we could, how the hell will you get the quarians and the geth to work together? You've built a career on performing the impossible, but there's a difference between impossible and  _impossible."_

Marcus smiled, "I died admiral; hard to imagine anything else stopping me. The quarians and the geth will have to work together; and if I can do that, then securing the Terminus systems with Aria T'Loak's support will be cake. The batarians will be much harder, as will the vorcha, but we'll get to that when the time comes. However, getting the quarians and the geth to work together is key."

"How do you plan to get the quarians working with the geth and vice versa?" Garrong asked, "It won't be a walk in the park."

"By offering something the quarians can't refuse," Marcus stated, "Rannoch."

Joseph gave him a raised brow, "Rannoch? What's that?"

"The quarian homeworld, admiral," the spectre responded, "For three hundred years they have travelled the stars, and I'm going to put a stop to that. I'm going to go to the Migrant Fleet, communicate with the geth and offer peace terms. If the quarians cease all hostilities towards the geth and all experiments on them ceased, the geth will give the Perseus Veil back to the quarians. If the geth don't attack the quarians, then...well, the alliance will be sealed. The quarians will have a place to house their non-combatants and a place to build up their fleet in tandem with the geth. This development will also leave a blank spot in the Reaper's intelligence; when Sovereign was alive, the geth served it and the Migrant Fleet still travelled the stars. They will not expect quarian-geth alliance. We can use that against them."

"What about the krogan?" Duncan Ward finally asked.

"I have a close friend, a man I consider a brother, who is uniting the krogan clans on Tuchanka and consolidating their manpower. He's been doing this since after I died," Marcus declared, "His name is Urdnot Wrex, and he was part of my crew two years ago. I consider him brother and he'd never betray me. I'm confident that we'll have the krogan underwing. Getting them to work in tandem with the turians and salarians will be beyond difficult, but I think we'll manage it. Unfortunately, that makes my next suggestion all the more difficult. The krogan can't build their numbers fast enough and if war comes, the Reapers will most likely devastate them, probably wipe them out. We need a genophage cure."

"That's for the Council to figure out," Joseph piped in, "The Alliance has no voice in politics that deal with events that happened thousands of years ago. If you ask me, getting a genophage cure will be harder than convincing the quarians and geth to work together, but if anyone can do it, its you. Now, shall we discuss the topic of why we're really here?"

Marcus nodded and the meeting got into full swing.

He just hoped they would listen.

**{Loading...}**

_October 15, 2185_

_1300 hours._

_Citadel Embassies Courtyard, Citadel Embassies, Presidium, The Citadel._

_Commander Marcus Lee Shepard, Gunnery Master Garrus Vakarian, Soldier Urdnot Grunt, Master Thief Kasumi Goto, Assassin Thane Krios, Councilor David Edward Anderson._

_Those fucking idiots!_

The meeting had been a total disaster. Marcus just couldn't remember where it all went wrong, but it had, and the admirals had gotten into arguments and conflicting opnions clashed and eventually Joseph had called for total silence. Eventually, Udina had come in to report that the Council had discussed the Human-Reaper findings, but had found little to no evidence to prove anything that the commander said was right. It was happening all over again; the Council had swept him under the rug, the Alliance Parliament abandoned him, and the alliance itself. Now the Reapers were coming, and not even the Council or the Alliance would help.

He had stormed out of the embassy in a fit of rage, ignoring the greeting of the N7 woman from before and his team following close behind, Anderson quickly running to catch up. Hackett had followed too, as he was the only admiral who actually believed in the truth of the Reapers and, if he were Fleet Admiral of the Navy, would have taken action already.

If it wasn't for that stubborn Prime Minister and his flock of hens he calls a parliament...

"I'm sorry Shepard," Anderson apologized, "I should have known things would go down hill like that. I'm pissed off the Council excluded me from their joint meeting, but there's nothing I can do about it."

Marcus stopped and Hackett finally caught up, the grizzled old man standing next to Anderson as Marcus spoke, "I can't believe them! After all the proof I've given them, they still don't believe me! The Reapers are coming, and we are less mobilized then were during the Eden Prime War! And its all because of these fucking ignorant council assholes! Sparatus, Tevos, Valern, all three of them!"

"I understand you're pissed Shepard, but there's nothing that can be done," Hackett piped in, "Sparatus actually wanted to arrest you on grounds that you were becoming alot like Saren, but apparently Tevos and Valern disagreed with him, luckily. There's nothing I can do that could convince Garrong otherwise. But just so you know, when the Reapers do arrive, my fleet is yours. Good luck, Shepard," with that, Hackett snapped a salute and left, most likely going to take a shuttle back to his flagship, the SSV McKinley.

Marcus sighed heavily as he wiped his brow, sagging in defeat.  _I was so close. I thought I had them, then some last minute political bullshit takes it away. I fucking hate democracy sometimes. We could have made a force so powerful, we'd destroy the Reapers, but in a couple of moments, its all taken away. I have no choice; I can't just give up now, there's too much to fight for to let some politicians doom us to extinction. Maybe if I succeed in getting the quarians and the geth to work together, I can convince the Alliance to reconsider._

Anderson placed a hand on the man's shoulder, causing Marcus to look up. The man shook his head, "You may not have gotten their help in fighting the Reapers, but they at least agreed to check Cerberus, even if their reasons are different. They will attack Walker Station."

"Yeah, a phyrric victory at best," Marcus replied, before standing up straighter, "Its not over Anderson. Its far from it. I'm still going to contact the quarians and make that alliance. It just means the Alliance and the Council won't build their fleets until its too late. A matter of fact, I'll have to ignore the Council and appeal directly to their governments; the hierarchy, the republics and the union. It'll be a slower process, but it needs to be done."

"I know you'll do your best Marcus. We're all depending on you, even if the brass doesn't realize it," Anderson told him, squeezing his shoulder, "If you need my help, you tell me. I don't care what Udina or the Council say. Damn them. I'll help you in whatever capacity I can. I should probably get in contact with a friend of mine and let her know what you're up to. Maybe she can help you."

"Who is this contact of yours?" Marcus asked, curiosity peaked a little.

"A close friend of mine. I told you about her not too long ago; she was the main reason I hit that refinery with Saren all those years ago," Anderson told him, "Her name is Kahlee Sanders. She works at Grissom Academy, but I'm sure she can use her resources to help you."

"Thank you Anderson. You keep doing humanity proud," Marcus snapped the councilor a final salute before turning to leave and head for the skycar parked nearby, hoping to get back to the Normandy as soon as possible. The Council would most likely have rescinded the funds to complete the Normandy's repairs, meaning they were back on square one. So where could they go to finish the repairs?

The answer was instant. He knew just the person who acquire the funds, and the place that had the space docks to do it.

They were going back to Illium.

As he approached the skycar, he heard someone shout from across the courtyard and he froze, easily remembering the voice. He turned and saw an alliance captain, female, moving towards him, her officer's cap on and white hair tied up in a ponytail. He looked at the captain of the SSV Orizaba, his mother, Hannah Shepard.

"Mum-"

He was rewarded with a massive slap to the face, causing him to reel backwards into the skycar and Grunt and Garrus to barely stiffle a laugh. Hannah shot them down with a glare and focused her attention on Marcus, who was trying to ignore the sting on his face.

" **Where the** _ **fuck**_ **have you been!?** "

**{Loading...}**

_October 15, 2185_

_1324 hours._

_Crew's Quarters, Mediator-Class Heavy Tanker QMFV Huzzi, Migrant Fleet, Utopia System, Exodus Cluster._

_Mechanic Peta'Yala vas Huzzi._

Peta'Yala vas Huzzi was sweating profusely as the overhead heat burned down on him and through the vent he currently occupied, making him uncomfortable as his suit's systems attempted to adapt. He checked his omni-tool's readings and determined that the source of the leak had been a faulty power conduit; one he had just repaired. With a satisfied sigh, Peta pulled himself out of the vent, deactivating his omni-tool in the process as he slid out and stood back up.

"How was it? Did you fix it?" asked Chief Engineer Veloa'Gerrel vas Huzzi.

Peta nodded, gesturing towards the ship's not-too-impressive drive core, "Shouldn't have any more problems. If you do, just tell me and I'll fix it. Got nothing else to do on this ship."

"Yeah, I feel sorry for you," Veloa thanked him, patting him on the shoulder before he turned back to his console and got back to work on the readouts, leaving Peta alone with his thoughts. With a sigh, he clenched his fists and opened them again, quickly leaving the room and heading for the crew's quarters. Once he found them, he located his bunk and leapt into it, lying down, hands folded on his chest and simply looking blankly up at the ceiling.

_Its been a while. I haven't heard a thing about her. Should I try my luck with admiralcy? They're still voting; can't believe they actually put Tali forward as a potential candidate. She's an engineer, not an admiral! She isn't fit for leadership! She won't likely win anyway. And once I'm chief admiral, she'll have no choice but to accept my orders or be exiled. She won't risk exile, so she'll come. Even her precious Shepard couldn't stop her from doing that, or convince her otherwise. She's as good as mine. I can just taste her lips right now..._

He badly tried to imagine her face, but couldn't. He knew his own face like he knew the crew compliment of the ship escorting them. So how could he imagine what Tali's face looks like?  _I want to. I want to imagine her lips on mine; how her skin would taste. What her moan would sound like. How it'd feel to be inside her..._

Okay, now his thoughts were just getting perverted.  _This is probably why she doesn't like me; always coming out like I'm some kind of perv. I love her, not just for her body but for...her. I'll do anything for her, and I'll do anything to_ _ **get**_ _her._ He had the Shadow Broker on his side, and with the most powerful information broker in the galaxy aiding him, there was nowhere Shepard and Tali could run and he couldn't find them. At first, he thought the Shadow Broker would want something in return, but he just said 'I'll find something' and just started helping.  _There's always a catch. Of course, I did do him the favor of setting up that trap on Eden Prime. The Collectors would take the crew, and the Shadow Broker's mercs would capture Shepard and his team. Obviously didn't work, but I'm not stopping there. She will be mine._

Suddenly, his omni-tool began to beep with an incoming call. He frowned behind his mask, wondering how they could already want him to fix something again. But when he saw that it was an anonymous source, and checked the registry, he found it was the Shadow Broker calling him. With a frown, he opened the omni-tool and connected the call, a static filled screen occupying the screen. At first he thought the connection was faulty, but then a voice spoke.

"Mister Yala," the Shadow Broker greeted, "I have an update on Miss Zorah."

Peta wiped the surprise from his face as he straightened up and looked intently at the screen, "What is it? Have you found her?"

"That and I know where she is going," the Broker declared, "She is currently on the Citadel. To my unfortunate discovery, they had recently returned from wiping out the Collectors and their base, as one of my agents informed me. However, I heard from another agent that Shepard is making plans to leave for the Migrant Fleet to begin negoitations with the quarians to build an army to fight the Reapers. I thought you'd like to know, as this is your chance to make another move."

Peta smiled evilly, "That's good to hear."

"I require one favor from you however," the Broker stated, "It benefits both of us, this favor. It will acquire you Tali'Zorah, while also eliminating a threat."

"Whatever you need," Peta told him eagerly.

"Shepard is an enemy of ours, you and I know this. He has stolen the love of the one you care about the most away from you and left you empty. Shepard has also disrupted my own operations, causing havoc for my agents and denying me important intel that has damaged my business over the course of many months, even years. We both need him dealt with. So, in your interests and mine, Shepard must be removed as a threat..."

"...he must be eliminated. When he reaches the fleet, get him alone, unarmed and unaware, and then kill him. Discreetly of course; we don't need people finding out you're behind it, do we? With Shepard out of the way, Tali'Zorah will envitably fall into a fit of grief, and who better to soothe her than Peta'Yala vas Huzzi?"

"No one," Peta declared, his goal set, "It will be done. That filthy human's blood shall be spilt."

"Good to hear it. His death will take a great weight off both of our shoulders. I have agents on standby if you require anything. You need backup, and my agents will move at your command. Good luck, Mister Yala. May our business conclude with both of us wearing smiles," And with that, the Broker cut the comm channel, allowing Peta to fall back into his bunk.

Kill Shepard. Get the girl of his dreams.

He sighed, knowing he must murder a man to get what he wanted, but in the end...

...if he wanted something, he had to take it.

**"Your mum."**

**Tali'Shepard pav Rannoch.**

**"My mum."**

**\- Marcus Shepard.**

**"That was a...interesting, experience."**

**\- Tali'Shepard pav Rannoch.**

**"You bet it was."**

**\- Marcus Shepard.**

_**A/N:** _

_**Please review! I need the sustenance! Everyone of you reading, review! Let me know what you think of these revelations and plot twists!** _

**YOL'TIYA: KHELISH FOR 'MY OTHER HALF' OR 'MY LOVE.'**


	7. Hello To You Too, Mum

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Shepard introduces Tali to his mother. Thane and Kolyat spend time together.

**REQUIEM**

**CHAPTER SIX:**

**HELLO TO YOU TOO, MUM**

_October 15, 2185_

_1310 hours._

_Citadel Embassies Courtyard, Citadel Embassies, Presidium, The Citadel._

_Commander Marcus Lee Shepard, Gunnery Master Garrus Vakarian, Soldier Urdnot Grunt, Master Thief Kasumi Goto, Assassin Thane Krios, Captain Hannah Rila Shepard._

" **Where the** _ **fuck**_ **have you been!?** "

Marcus was still trying to recover from the massive slap his mother had given him, but didn't cradle his face, merely trying to ignore the sting covering his right cheek. He could just imagine the red hand print it left. After all these years, his mum still had one hell of a swinging arm. A city buster, Anderson called it. As he looked on, he saw Garrus barely containing a smirk, while Grunt didn't even bother, deciding to go all out in his laughter. Thane remained inpassive and he couldn't even see where Kasumi was.

He turned back to his mother, who's hands were clenched in tight fists and her face had veins popping all over. He had never seen her so angry; so infuriated. He understood her reasons, but it didn't stop him from feeling victimized.

She was still fuming when he finally responded to her outburst, "Hello to you too, mum."

She moved forward, prepared to give him another swing, but instead shoved a finger in his face, "You selfish boy! You stupid, idiotic,  _fuckwit_ of a boy! I thought you were dead!  _We all thought you were dead!_ I spent two years grieving! I had buried all but a body! Hell, I outright  _refused_ a promotion to admiral to honor your legacy! And now you pop up? Oh, don't tell me, its  _classified_. But you could have at least told me you were alive! You spent two years alive and only now appear? You selfish idiot! Your father would be disgusted in your-"

"I was dead mum," he had let his mum rant, but now he had to cut her off before she went too far, "I was just a scorching piece of meat rotting on Alchera's surface. These past two years I was  _dead_. Not alive, just dead. You had every right to grieve."

"I am not stupid son!" Hannah growled, "You expect me to believe you were actually dead? I believed you about the Reapers, as ridiculous as it sounded, but I'm not about to believe you died and got resurrected."

"Then you're in for some disappointment," Marcus mumbled, standing up to his full height to meet her eyes. Her features softened, but her face was still full of anger, "For two years, I was dead. But...I was found, and they put billions of credits into resurrecting me. I'm not a clone, and I'm not a VI construct, I'm the real thing. I'm your son."

A tear left one of Hannah's eyes and drifted down her cheek, "But...but how? How could they-who?"

"Cerberus mum. Cerberus brought me back," he admitted and he saw his mother visibly bristle at the mention of the terrorist organization, "I know, I didn't like it either, but they brought me back mum. They gave me a second chance, and I have to at least thank them for that. I only woke up a few months ago."

"You've been up for a few months and  _still_ never bothered to contact me?" Hannah asked incredulously, "Why?"

"I had to put the mission first, I'm sorry," Marcus informed her, "There was too much hanging on my mission; I couldn't drag you into that. Besides, there was a possibility I could have died again, and I didn't want you to know I was alive incase you had to go through my death all over again."

"The brass told me about the Collectors, but they only just told me you were involved," Hannah's eyes continued to tear up, "I'm glad you sent the Collectors straight to hell, and I would have lended my dreadnought if I could. I...I'm so sorry, son," Without prior warning, Hannah launched forward and wrapped her only son in a tight hug. He was surprised at first, but he quickly recovered and returned the embrace. He heard her mumble in his ear.

"I'm so proud of you. All those things you've done," Hannah told him, breaking off the hug, but holding him at arm's length, afraid death might take him away again, "Those brass scumbags wanted to sweep you under the rug. My boy, all his achievements, forgotten. You didn't deserve that."

Marcus nodded in understanding, "What about that promotion you mentioned? You turned down becoming an admiral?"

Hannah laughed lightly, "Yeah, my own way of telling the alliance that they could get fucked. I'll tell you more; how about we go to a restuarant and catch up? I want to know all about your mission against these Collector bastards and how my son once again showed them who's boss."

Marcus chuckled, "Sounds great, mum. I've got some time to spare,"  _But there's also someone I want you to meet_ , "Also mum, I don't think I told you this, but I met someone, someone very special. We met two years ago, but our relationship has only-"

"You mean Tali?" Hannah finished for him and the spectre gave a him wide-eyed look of shock. She only laughed, eyes filled with mirth and amusement, "Don't look so shocked Mark; I met that sweet girl...two years ago. It was just after your death. We met after your funeral, and she told me about how you two had been together. Poor girl thought I'd hate her for taking my son, but I was just happy that you found someone special in your life. You never did have any solid relationships."

The spectre laughed, rubbing the back of his neck, "Ten girlfriends. But Tal is special; she's the only one I've felt...this protective over."

Garrus scoffed, quickly gaining the attention of both Shepards, " _ **Ten?**_ You must suck at relationships if you've been dumped ten times! Shepard, the King of the Dump."

Marcus shot a glare in his direction, "They were high-school relationships mostly and...and two of them...they were marines under my command and..." he stopped for a moment, meeting Garrus' eyes, look serious, "One I lost on Akuze, and the other on Elysium."

Garrus' eyes widened with guilt, "Shepard, I didn't mean it like that. I-didn't know."

"Its fine. Not your fault..." Marcus drifted off, but hopefully noticed the turn the conversation had taken and cleared her throat, looking at the four bodyguards surrounding Marcus, "And who are these you find yourself in the company of? I remember Mr. Vakarian, but I'm pretty sure the krogan looked different in the vids. And I don't recognize you two at all," Hannah told them.

"I am not Battlemaster Urdnot Wrex. He is still on Tuchanka, uniting the krogan clans," Grunt informed Hannah, slamming his fists together, "I am Urdnot Grunt, student under my battlemaster's wise counsel. Your son is strong, powerful and unmatched in battle; he is the battlemaster of all battlemasters. I am honored to meet the female who created such a powerful seed," With that, Grunt kneeled infront of Hannah; a symbol of respect among krogan.

Hannah raised an eyebrow at the krogan's symbolic bow and turned to Marcus, smirking. She turned back to Grunt, wiping the smirk from her face and clasping her hands behind her back, "Well...Urdnot Grunt, I am...honored to have such a son."

Grunt stood to his full height, easily matching Hannah's size, "The krogan will sing songs of your offspring, and you will be remembered as the one who created such a powerful warrior. He chooses a powerful and possessive mate as well."

Hannah frowned.  _Powerful and possessive? The Tali I knew was a shy, selfless, nervous little girl on pilgrimage. She must have really changed over the past two years._ She nodded at Grunt, and watched as Kasumi and Thane approached and introduced themselves.

"I am Thane Krios, an honor to meet Shepard's mother," the drell greeted, shaking Hannah's hand, "I have worked with your son during a sizable portion of the Collector conflict and I admire his audacity in combat, his charisma when talking with his crew, and his ability to look past interspecies-barriers to find someone to love. Your son is a remarkable individual, and it is truly inspiring to work alongside him during the last days of my life."

"Last days?" Hannah asked, confused, "If you're so old, how could you fight on the battlefield?"

Thane laughed a croaky laugh at the captain's misinterpretation of his words, "No, I am not old, not for drell anyway. All drell suffer a degenerative disease called Kepral's syndrome. It is not communicable, but is lethal to drell and dramatically shortens our lifespan. We get it on birth and once we have it, we have a certain time limit until our lungs can no longer take in oxygen, and we die. I am just glad I got to serve with your son and live to see the results of our work."

"I'm sorry to hear that. If you're working for my son, you must be a good man. I hope you find peace when you die," Hannah reassured him, turning to the young thief, who was smiling a huge grin, "And you are?"

The little thief shot out a hand, eagerly awaiting Hannah's reciprocation, "Kasumi Goto, Master Thief. I have to say, it is quite interesting meeting Shep's mother. Maybe I could-"

"Kasumi," Marcus stopped her mid-sentence, suffering a glare from the thief, "I know where you're going with that train of thought. Best derail it now."

She poked her tongue out at him and turned back to Hannah, whispering in her ear, "I'll tell you later. Let's just say, I've got some embarassing Shep moments to show you. You know, we'll reserve it for some womanly time?"

Hannah nodded, smiling at the prospect. She liked to tease her son, and this thief might be able to help her dig up dirt on him. He even used to look at fornax, especially the sections that involved asari. Obviously that obsession had died quickly. She was liking this young thief, Kasumi, already. Yes, she would definitely talk with her when this was over.

She turned to her son, motioning to the skycar, "So, you going to take your old woman to a nice little restuarant and invite your girlfriend over? I'd like to see her again. We haven't spoken in two years, after all."

Marcus nodded and they all piled into the skycar, Marcus taking the skycar controls and taking off, selecting the Amazonian Rain Restuarant, setting it to autopilot, and asking Tali to meet him at the specified coordinates. She told him she had work to do and had to coordinate the construction workers, but Marcus explained they weren't coming and promised to explain when she got there. Her response was a frustrated 'fine' and then she cut the comm.

He leaned back and smiled.  _The Council and Alliance will fall in line eventually, they'll have to. The Illusive Man will be out of the picture at least and we can get the repairs we need at Illium, and then head to the Migrant Fleet. But for now, I've got alot of catching up to do with my mother. And Tali will be able to sit down and have a proper conversation with her._

This day was better than most. No Collectors to worry about, just the little things.

**{Loading...}**

_October 15, 2185_

_1327 hours._

_Shuttle Bay, Normandy-Class Stealth Frigate Normandy SR-2, Docked with the Citadel._

_Subject Zero Jack, Justicar Samara._

She yelled out as she slammed into the crate behind her, pain shooting up her back. Her biotics dimmed to a dull glow as she collapsed, face first, onto the floor, hands only just stopping her from completely face-planting into it. The floor was cold to the touch and she watched as blood dripped from her nose and fell onto the ground in tiny driplets. She growled, wiping the thick, red liquid from her mouth and turned her head up, looking at Samara, who stood poised at the other end of the bay, position firm and azure glow pulsating.

With a shout of pure anger, Jack stood up, determined to keep going. She was exhausted from their training, and it was because of her strained biotics that she was getting a blood nose. She was ready to collapse from fatigue, but she wasn't going to give in yet. Not to this righteous asari.  _I'll be fucked before I give up to this asari bitch._

Samara didn't waste anytime and quickly picked up another crate with her biotics, and immediately threw it towards Jack. The petite young woman sent a jet of biotic power off to her side, acting as a thruster to send her skidding out of the way as the crate flew by harmlessly. With the crate gone, Jack charged the justicar, raising a biotic barrier infront of her to block any attacks the asari might give out.

But like always, the justicar outwitted her. Without even flinching, Samara used that biotic jumping shit she liked to show off and 'teleported' inside Jack's barrier, following this up with a biotic shockwave that the convict shooting through the air to collide with the wall behind her, sliding back to the ground in a crumbled heap.

The asari justicar disappeared from sight as Jack landed behind the scorched, torn mess of the hammerhead tank. The vehicle had been crippled during the Battle of the Collector Base; one of those oculus sphere things boarded the ship and attacked them, and they took the hammerhead to destroy it. They succeeded, but not before the Oculus tore half the tank in half. Now it was just laying there, completely useless, waiting to be thrown out the airlock.

She heard Samara speak as she once more crawled back to her feet, "You rely far too much on your biotics, Jack. Use your surroundings to your advantage; with your biotics, inanimate objects, like crates, can be turned into lethal projectiles. This will greatly bolster your offensive and defensive capabilities, as the objects can also be turned into shields."

With the asari's words, Jack had an idea form in her mind. Her eyes locked with the side of the tank and she stood up fully, calling upon the full might of her biotic abilities. Soon enough, Jack was so alight with dark power, that she was almost unrecognizable in the ball of bright blue and white light.  _This is why they call me the all-powerful bitch._ And with a massive biotic shove, she literally picked up the hammerhead and tossed it at Samara before collapsing back to the ground, unable to keep up her work ethic.

Samara's eyes widened as she saw the crippled tank rush towards her, and she knew she couldn't dodge it. Instead, she shot a singularity at it, capturing the vehicle in a tight gravity well, before detonating it with a warp field, the resulting explosion sending the hammerhead slamming into a wall nearby. The sound was enough to shake the whole ship, and she knew people would come prying, but she had been impressed by Jack's sheer display of power. Only the most powerful of biotics could hope to pick up vehicles. Not even matriarchs had been known to do it. There was a legend that an asari matriarch saved an entire colony from a krogan attack by using her biotics to pick up a frigate and throw it into another ship, but it had never been proven.

 _Shepard calls her a biotic powerhouse, and for good reason._ Samara, now genuinely breathing heavily, steadily approached Jack's slouched form, noticing just how much effort it had taken for the convict to move the vehicle.

Jack, noticing the justicar standing over, meekly looked up and, to keep up her image, growled, "Well, come to gloat? Go on, tell me how superior you are. You kicked my ass.  _Again_."

Samara shook her head, look solemn, "I did not win. You did not win. There was nothing to win; only something to learn. You are improving, but have a while to go. I was impressed by your ability to manipulate the hammerhead however. Few biotics have the will or energy to do it, even my people."

"Bullshit," Jack spat, "You're just saying that to make me feel better. I've been through all this shit before."

"I am an asari justicar and my word is my bond," Samara solemnly swore, "Goddess curse me if I ever lie. You are a powerful biotic Jack, one that could give the most experienced of asari matriarchs pause if taught right. You just need to learn to harness your abilities, improve them and keep your anger in check."

"See? A fucking therapy session. 'Anger in check.' Who the fuck are you, my mother? If I wanted therapy, I'd ask the red-head upstairs," She stood up, ignoring Samara's display of help, wanting to keep her own pride secured. After a bit of fumbling, she stood up and simply gave the placid asari a lingering glare before turning to leave, only stopped when the justicar placed a hand on her shoulder and the convict spun around to face her again.

"Your anger needs to be kept in check because it will eventually kill you in combat. I understand you have seen horrible things and the Cerberus experiments wrought on you are unethical crimes, but you cannot let them define who you are," Samara lectured, "You do not remember your real name, or your parents, only that your home was on Eden Prime. You do not remember your old personality before you became Jack, but you can still recover it. You can still become the girl you forgot about and abandoned. Cerberus did not break you. They will not break you unless you let them."

Jack felt painful memories return. She remembered Eden Prime at least; a beautiful colony, looked just like Earth, with its blue skies and endless expanse of green plains. But her parents were the problem; she couldn't remember their faces, no matter how hard she tried. And her name...it had started with J, which is why she called herself Jack, as it was the most basic name she could think of starting with J, but she couldn't remember it fully. She didn't want the memories to return. She shook the asari's hand off and quickly stormed into the elevator, not looking back as Samara stared blankly at her. She waited for the doors to close infront of her before hitting the button for the the engineering deck.

_Damn it, why did that justicar bitch make me remember? I forgot about that place long ago. Who I was, who my parents were...I don't give a fuck about that anymore. I am Jack, not Subject Zero, but Jack, the scared kid turned powerful biotic bitch. I'm the little crazy girl that noone cares about. I'm just a tool to be used and discarded...Fuck, am I that retarded? Self-pity? Damn I'm pathetic._

The elevator quickly arrived on the engineering deck and she stormed out, hoping to just hide in her hidey-hole under engineering; hopefully that quarian wasn't working down there.  _She'll just remind me of what I could have had._ As she moved, she bumped into Zaeed, who gave a grunt of disapproval, but otherwise ignored her. She liked Zaeed; he was the only one who get down on her level. Everyone else was either too calm, too rough, too kind or too...boy-scoutish.  _When you get down to it, its always about Shepard himself, isn't it?_

She rushed down the staircase and quickly ran into the maintenance area of engineering; her hidey-hole, as many called it. To her relief, Tali wasn't working down there, so she had the whole area to herself. She dumped herself on her bunk and lay down, looking up at the grey, metal grates that served as her ceiling, the drive core humming behind her.

She growled as she inadvertently let her thoughts return to the topic of Shepard.  _Why can't I let that slide and stop thinking about him!? He obviously doesn't want me, that's why he chose the quarian! Those two have been together like...two years ago. How can I compete with that? They've fought, bled and sweat together, and me? I've known him a few months and instantly want to fuck him everytime he enters the room. He doesn't want to be with my type, fine with me, but why do I have to be so fucking sentimental about it?_

Lying down wasn't helping, so she gave up and decided to sit up on her bunk, letting her face fall into her hands fluidly. She wiped at her face, but stopped as she examined her tattooes. Her entire body, save the head, was covered in them, and all of them had been for kills or simply because she wanted them. She even had an omni-tattoo on her back. A special ink from a special person who was now dead in a special place.  _He liked my tattooes. I could tell; the way he talked about them; he thought they were intricate, fascinating..._

Or she was looking for excuses, loopholes...

She sighed as she stood up and leapt ontop of the container infront of her, which existed for the sole reason of...nothing, she just liked jumping ontop of it.  _I stood ontop of this thing when I suggested to Shepard that we go pirating...such a boy scout...anyone else would have said yes just to get me into bed, but he just denied me like he hadn't even considered it. Fucking paragon._ She snarled.  _Just stop it! Why the hell do you care so much?_

Because she wanted him; she didn't show it, but she  _wanted_ him. She wasn't as obvious about it as the quarian upstairs, but she knew it. Deep down, she knew it. Who could blame her anyway? Shepard was the man that every woman wanted to get their hands on; either to make them feel special or simply because he was a reknowned hero. Hell, she knew the cheerleader wanted Shepard all over her...and that red-head...damn, that red-head would fuck anything if it had a cock...I've seen how she looks at that drell dude...

And the more Jack thought about it, she'd do anything to get her claws on him. Shepard had risen her out of the primordial muck, as far as she was concerned, and that made him hers. She had always wanted someone to love her, to care for her, and the only person who had actually done that was dead; he sacrificed his life so she could escape a batarian frigate that they had both decided to raid. She never forgot him.

She needed Shepard; for closure, for stress-relief, for love? She had no idea, she just needed him. Maybe he felt the same way. Maybe he secretly wanted her in return and just didn't show it or tell her.  _Maybe he's with the quarian out of a sense of obligation. Pity, maybe? Yeah, that has to be it. Why else choose her over someone like big-tit-cheerleader? Hell, he could have had the asari. Maybe I'll go up there and ask him. Maybe...maybe I'll go up there and just fuck him. No...that's not how the boy scout would do it. He'd want me to confess my feelings first. I'll do that and then I'll fuck him. Yes, he can't resist me. He won't._

She smiled lightly as she looked for one of EDI's holopads. After finding one, she asked if EDI was there. Her hologram quickly appeared, "What can I do for you Jack?"

"Where is Shepard right now?" Jack asked as innocently as she could.

"He is not onboard the ship. Garrus returned and stated that he was at a restuarant with his mother and Tali. He most likely won't return to the ship until late night, and most likely unavailable as he will either be sleeping or having...time with Miss Zorah."

"Thanks EDI," Jack thanked.

"Logging you out Jack," and with that, EDI's hologram disappeared, allowing Jack to return to her bunk, fall down into it and rest her eyes, a smile on her face.  _I'll wait until the quarian isn't around and then spring. He's got to love me, I know he does. And I'm going to prove it. I'll be patient; not a proud trait of mine, but one I'll learn fast. I hope._

And with that, Jack fell into a dreamless sleep. Most of her sleep was like that. But soon, it would be filled with Shepard. She liked the quarian for her spunk and badass attitude, but when it came to getting the boy scout, her friends didn't matter. Hell, she'd probably laugh at the sight of Shepard kicking Tali out of his cabin. Oh, the mirth...

Jack wasn't an evil person. But when it came to Shepard, anything could happen...

**{Loading...}**

_October 15, 2185_

_1348 hours._

_Table 12, Amazonian Rain Restuarant, Romulus Ward, The Citadel._

_Commander Marcus Lee Shepard, Chief Engineer Tali'Zorah vas Normandy, Captain Hannah Rila Shepard._

And here, Marcus thought it would take a while to get a seat. But once people know you're Commander Shepard, getting a table was as easy as asking for one. Now they sat at a three-seat table; Hannah on one side, Marcus and Tali on the other. There was obviously no point in hiding their relationship from her, as Hannah apparently already knew. Now they were just waiting to be served. It as a human restuarant, so luckily the staff hadn't been...too troubled by letting a quarian in, much to Marcus' relief.

Hannah smiled, or she grinned, but either way, her lips tugged upwards and she looked at both of them, "So...Tali, its been a while. Two years? God, feels like a century. Last I saw you, you were a shy girl on...pilgrimage, was it? You've changed alot."

Tali laughed, leaning forward and placing her hands on the table, "Shepard's death..." she seemed to lose her smile for a moment, but it sprang back up when Marcus wrapped his arm around her waist and rubbed her back, letting her know he was there. With this knowledge, her smile returned and she continued, "Shepard's death was hard, but I managed to seal that wound and move on. I got a new suit immediately upon returning the fleet and got posted to the Neema. The data Marcus gave me really helped," she nodded in Marcus' direction, allowing the spectre to smile, "I later decided to become a marine, and I technically outrank Marcus now, but I follow his command still. He's a far better leader than me anyway."

Marcus scoffed, "She does herself no justice. I've seen her lead teams; if it wasn't for her being quarian and female, I would've thought I was watching myself. She was a natural."

She blushed under her mask, "I learnt from the best."

Hannah smirked widely as she leaned forward, "So, what did you think when you first saw him again? Did you freak out like I did?"

Tali giggled, as she looked at Marcus, "Well, at first I was ready to put a bullet in his head for being an impostor. I was so angry at seeing him again, I thought he was just a Cerberus abomination. But when I learnt it was him, I...I..."

"Slapped me," Marcus finished for her.

Hannah guffawed, "So you did freak out. I have a feeling we'll get along just fine Tali. We're more alike than you think."

"Because she slapped me?" Marcus asked, "And now you two suddenly have a bond?"

"Because she slapped  _you_ ," Hannah firmed, "Commander Shepard, Hero of the Citadel, Conqueror of the Collectors, slapped by a quarian marine. That's a headline I'd love to see. She's the only one allowed to slap you and get away with it unharmed; just like me," she got a devilish grin in Tali's direction, and the quarian grinned alittle behind her mask.

"Well, if there's a little woman conspiracy going on between you two, I think I'd better break it up for fear of my life," With that, the spectre moved onto a different topic, "So mum, how's life been treating you? Is Commander Phillipo still on the ship?"

"Hasn't left," Hannah grinned, taking a sip of the water provided, "The man's as loyal an XO as you can get, aside from that turian of yours."

"He's not my XO-"

"Anyway," Hannah continued, "I wasn't the only one to refuse a promotion. He used three offers of promotion to Captain. He was offered the Stalingrad, another Normandy-Class stealth frigate. Then he was offered the Tai Shan, a Kilimanjaro-Class dreadnought, and finally, he was offered the Hastings, a light cruiser, but he refused all three of them to stay on as my XO. He liked you Mark; he was pissed off what they did to you after your death and how badly they treated your funeral. It was pathetic; it wasn't a funeral, it was an inconveinence. You deserved better. So he basically told the Alliance to get fucked when he refused all those promotions. 'Italian spirit' he called it."

Marcus smiled at the memory of Phillipo. His memory was blurry, but he was pretty sure he met the guy when he had just finished destroy a bunch of geth strongholds in the Armstrong Cluster, and he was handing over the classified data to his mother. Phillipo, or Phillip as he preferred to be called, had been a respectable man that Marcus had grown to like. A pity he only saw him twice; the geth data exchange and the 2183 War Games. Those were two years ago...

"Where is he now?" Marcus asked.

"Fashioning supplies for the Orizaba. We're low on rations, so we have to restock on those," Hannah joked, "We just got back from completing the 2185 War Games with the quarians. Now we're going to be assigned to the newly discovered 2185 Xavier Nebula to help with a first contact situation."

Marcus' eyes widened at both revelations, "War Games with the Migrant Fleet? How long as that been going for?"

Hannah shrugged, "About half a year. We're trying to improve relations with the Flotilla, or at least that's the official story. I really think its just the Alliance giving Primarch Fedorian a helping hand."

"Why's that?" Tali asked.

"One of the quarian admirals, this Han'Gerrel, he's been causing trouble along the turian border for quite awhile now and the primarch thinks enough is enough. He wants us to keep Gerrel distracted so he'll stop harassing their trade routes and raiding shipping lanes. Fedorian knows better than to declare war against a species that can barely defend themselves, but it won't be long before the hierarchy calls for it," Hannah informed them.

Marcus shook his head in annoyance, "The acts of one admiral out of four of them. Anyway, that sounds great, but what's this about a first contact situation?"

Hannah rolled her eyes, "Those nosey asari poking into corners they best keep out of, yet this time, they find a species that doesn't tear apart their diplomats," Hannah announced, "They're called the raloi. Asari sent a cruiser to make direct, formal contact with them after they launched their first spaceship and discovered their system's mass relay. The Alliance has sent for a dreadnought task group, that's mine, to escort the asari and turian task groups in picking up the raloi diplomats and ambassadors and transporting them to the Citadel to welcome them into the galactic community."

"I wish our first contact went half as well," Marcus mumbled.

Hannah smiled, "In some ways, it did. We kicked the turians in the ass and showed them they aren't the top guns they think they are; now they have humans to compete with."

The spectre laughed at that, "Damn right."

"I guess since you didn't hear of the raloi, you didn't hear about what the reporters are calling the 'Virtual Aliens?'" Hannah asked, waving her glass around.

Marcus frowned, not sure what she meant, "Virtual Aliens? Is that another alien species we don't know of?"

"You really haven't watched the news, have you?" Hannah asked and noticing the blank stares from both of them, she sighed and continued, "Some human organization, ExoGeni I think it was, found this derelict ship that had been wandering the stars for close to eight thousand years. It had come from another galaxy apparently and was of technology incosistent with ours. They found noone onboard, but quickly found out it was a ship filled with supercomputers that housed the souls of billions of 'virtual aliens.' Apparently something went wrong with their homeworld and they had to save themselves by uploading into the ship and escaping. So let's just say that 2185 is the year for first contacts."

All three of them laughed and were about to switch topics when the waiter finally arrived, standing infront of them, omni-tool out and ready, "Are you ready to take orders or do you need alittle more time, sir? Ma'ams?"

Marcus nodded, looking the waiter straight in the eyes, "I'll have the Texas Rib with a Creamy Soda, please."

"I'll have the salad, dressing, but with no steak please. I'd also like a large skinny latte, no sugar," Hannah replied.

All eyes turned to Tali, who seemed to be staring at the dextro section of the menu.

"Tali," Marcus whispered softly, lightly tapping Tali on the shoulder. She flinched, realizing they were waiting for her and quickly went to make her order. And he knew what she had chosen.  _Oh no you don't..._

"I'll just have the nutr-"

"Sorry," Marcus interrupted, drawing the waiter's attention and causing Tali and Hannah to glare daggers at him, "What she meant to say, was could she please have the  _gil'vat'i_ with dextro sauce? She'd also like a Palaven Hot Wine, thank you."

When the waiter had finished taking their orders, he quickly left, leaving Tali to argue with Marcus. Hannah had broken off after she saw what Marcus was doing, but Tali wasn't giving in, "Why did you do that, Marcus! A  _gil'vat'i_!? Do you know how expensive that is? Its a waste of resources, especially on something like me! Nutrient paste would have been-"

He quickly placed a palm over her vocalizer, stopping her rant for a second. He then leaned in, kissed her on the visor and looking into her eyes, "Tali, you deserve something nice every once and a while. All you do is eat the same, bland nutrient paste. I wanted to give you something different to eat. Something better than paste. Think about it; it'll be the first real meal you've had in months!"

"In two years, you mean," Tali replied, "Marcus, I-"

"Enjoy it Tali. Its on me," Marcus promised, getting out his credit chit and placing it on the edge of the table, deciding he'd pay for it all, "The least I can do for the mother I haven't seen in two years and my quarian girlfriend."

Tali sighed, giving up on arguing with the spectre and leaning back in her seat, which Hannah watched with an apt grin. Hannah did the same thing with Marcus, making him instantly nervous. His fears were confirmed when Hannah leaned further forward, mostly directing her question at Tali, "So...how did you two get back together? And have you done the deed yet?"

Of course, his mother just had to ask that. Of all the questions, she had to ask  _that_. This was going to be a very awkward conversation. And to his further chagrin, Tali didn't understand what she meant by the last bit, "'Done the deed?' What does that mean?"

Before Hannah could answer, Marcus leaned in, a flush of red collecting in his cheeks, "She's asking if we've had sex yet."

He could almost feel the heat rising to Tali's cheeks, and he could just imagine that bluish tinge on her pale grey skin. She lowered her head and began to fiddle with her fingers, unable to meet Hannah's eyes out of fear she might say something wrong and humiliate herself. Marcus, deciding to save Tali the embarassment, looked up and answered, "We met on Freedom's Progress, a couple of days after I woke up; call it a very good stroke of luck. She couldn't join me then, but a month later, I rescued her on Haestrom and she joined my team. We began to mend our relationship upon her return and we...um...well she did some research and so did I and we...um...we..."

"Did it," Tali filled in, voice shaky, "We...We did...did  _it_. Just before the assault on the Collector Base. We didn't know if we were going to live or not, so we thought that we might as well spend whatever time we had left together."

"You two are priceless. Just don't talking about sex makes you blush. I may not be able to see her face, but I know Tali is blushing. Its in her body language," Hannah dictated, chuckling to herself, "But I can also see that you two are perfect for each other, and I'm glad my son found a proper woman. I was surprised you didn't go for the asari, Liara T'Soni was it? Surprised you didn't go for her, considering your obsession with the asari when you were young."

Marcus gave his mother a pleading look, but it seemed Tali was too curious for her own good.

"He was?" the quarian was, sealing Marcus' fate.

Hannah smiled evilly, looking thoroughly content with spilling out her son's secrets, "When he was about thirteen, Marcus started going through adulthood. Don't know if you quarians start going through that at that age, but humans do, and he was well into it by thirteen. One day, when I was cleaning his room, Marcus forgot to hide one of his magazines before going to school. You know what I find under the bed?" She asked, and Tali shook her head. Hannah looked at Marcus for a moment, noting how thoroughly uncomfortable he was before looking back at Tali, "A fornax magazine. All I could remember was the picture on the front of it; it was an asari wearing a-"

"Well, I think that's enough!" Marcus almost shouted, sweat collecting on his brow.

"You shut up. Don't interrupt a woman when she's talking," Hannah hissed and Tali nodded, obviously wanting to know more. Before anyone could say anything, Tali exclaimed almost immediately when the full impact of what Hannah had told her hit her.

"He looked at porn?" Tali asked, "Asari porn?"

Hannah nodded, "Yep. When I confronted him about it, I'm pretty sure his face was like a lobster, he was that red-"

"What's a lobster?"

"A sea creature honey," Hannah added for the quarian before continuing, "Anyway, he kept throwing these apologies in my face, but I just asked him why he was so obsessed with asari. I swear he thought I was going to slap him."

"If you were me, you'd understand," Marcus mumbled, "You were the bloody devil."

"And don't you forget it," she responded, turning back to Tali just as the quarian's meal arrived. Tali, for a second, looked at the food, realizing that the restuarant had even remembered to sterilize it. Her drink came next, followed by a small bowl of dextro sauce to dip her food in. From the spectre's point of you, her food liked the Shepherd's pie his mother used to make, which he found slightly ironic. The dextro sauce was a whitish grey in color and didn't look too delicious.  _To a dextro, it must be delicious._ Instead, Tali just stared at her food before turning to Marcus. He frowned.

"What's wrong?"

"Nothing," Tali replied, smiling, "I just...it'd feel wrong to start without you. You were always so kind to me; always waiting for me to eat my paste before you ate your own food, I thought I might repay the favor."

He smiled at her but it quickly demolished when Tali turned back around and looked back at Hannah, "So, why  _was_ he so obsessed with asari?"

"After some reluctance and some prodding from my end, he finally spilt the info I wanted," Hannah told her, "He told me that, get this, humans were 'boring' and he wanted to be like 'other people.' I swear he was going to say 'normal people.' Its sad when finding an asari mate instead of a human for our species is considered normal. Four hundred years ago, we hung homosexuals. Now, we just allow it, so it shows just how far we've changed. But, I digress. He also told me that 'they were pretty' and he 'liked the color purple', pretty ironic, heh?" she motioned towards Tali's purple veil, but continued despite this, "I told him asari were blue, but he didn't care. He seemed set on getting off to asari porn and eventually decided he wanted an asari girlfriend. And when the opportunity was finally given; he fell for a young, shy, quarian girl instead."

"I grew up," Marcus told her, "I was just a horny teenager back then. When I met Tali, I was an N7, bordering on spectre candidacy. Alot had changed."  _Besides, as soon as Tali mentioned research, I may have started looking up quarian fornax..._

"Yet you were still into aliens, which I'm perfectly fine with!" Hannah made clear, pointing to Tali, "Miss Zorah is far better than any of those girls you chose to date when you were in high school. She actually cares about you and loves you, unlike those other women. Only one gave a damn about you, and it turned out it was simply because she thought you were a Terra Firma supporter."

Marcus scoffed, "Yeah, Maria was a racist bitch."

"And all the others just used you because of...well, you were pretty popular. Not to mention a few just wanted to get in your pants..." Hannah trailed off.

Marcus sighed as he remembered that, "I was drunk mum, I didn't know what I was doing. By the time I got over that bloody hangover, I'd already done the deed with her. I dumped her after that, remember?"

"You shouldn't have gotten drunk in the first place," Hannah scolded, turning back to Tali, whispering, "He went partying alot; typical teenage stuff. Sometimes he got drunk, but he would never do red sand. Anyone who offered it to him either got a beating or was reported to the ship's captain."

"Wait, you lived on a ship?" Tali asked, directing the question at Marcus.

"Born on one yes, I'm sure I told you this," Marcus declared but the quarian shook her head, forcing Marcus to explain. Sighing, he began, "I was born on the SSV Einstein, an alliance light carrier. I never met by father, as he died long before I was born, so my mum and lived onboard it. We sometimes got reassigned, like a few temporaries on Arcturus, then a few on some cruisers, dreadnoughts or frigates, but we eventually landed back on the Einstein, where we stayed until I joined the Alliance. In quarian culture, I guess I would have been...?"

"Marcus'Shepard nar Einstein," Tali remarked playfully.

"nar Einstein?" Hannah asked, confused, "Why would he be called that?"

"Its part of quarian culture. Before we complete our pilgrimage, we are called 'nar' and then the ship we live on. Nar means 'child of.' I am nar Rayya, which means I am a child of Rayya. My new name is 'vas Normandy', because once I complete my pilgrimage, I am an adult and must choose a new ship to live on. 'Vas' means 'crew of.' I am 'Crew of Normandy.' We used to refer ourselves by 'pav' instead of 'vas', but that changed when we lost our homeworld."

"What does 'pav' mean?" Hannah asked.

"It means 'Citizen of'. If I was born on Rannoch, I'd be pav Rannoch, 'Citizen of Rannoch.' Its a title we lost the right to a long time ago."

Hannah nodded, impressed, "Well, consider you two are together, I'm guessing you'd be teaching each other your respective language."

Marcus looked at Tali, raising an eyebrow, and he could tell Tali was as well. The quarian looked back at Hannah just as the rest of the food arrived, and the two Shepards quickly dug into their meals while Tali began eating hers and speaking at the same time, "I...we never really thought about that. I mean, if Marcus wants to learn khelish, I could teach him..." she stopped, widening her eyes at the delicious taste of the food she was eating. She arched her back, displaying the pleasure assaulting her taste buds and moaning, causing Marcus to chuckle alittle. She slapped him across the back of the head, but that didn't stop him from continuing to laugh.

Remembering what they had talked about before, Marcus turned to Tali, smiling, "You know what Tali, I think I would like to learn some khelish. Starting with what bosh'tet means."

The engineer sighed, shooting him an accusing look, "I promised I'd tell you what that meant!"

"I promised to tell you what pun meant as well, you know," Marcus winked, garnering another sigh from the engineer. He couldn't on, but this time more seriously, "I honestly want to learn Tali. I love you and it'd feel wrong not to learn your people's culture and language. Maybe you could give me some history lessons too. Besides, it might help later when I want to impress you. Nothing like seducing someone in their own language."

Tali shot a knowing look at Marcus that he could read easily.  _You and me. Later. Your cabin._ He smiled devilishly, but apparently his mother knew him too well and decided to break up the moment.

"Please you two, not while this old woman is here," Hannah pleaded, turning back to her food, "Now Tali, let's talk about you..."

They had a very long lunch.

**{Loading...}**

_October 15, 2185_

_C-Sec Customs, Level 27, Zakera Ward, The Citadel._

_Assassin Thane Krios, Captain Armando Owen Bailey._

Thane quickly made his way out of his skycar and weaved through the tight crowds of the Zakera Ward, deciding that using his assassin skills to hide wasn't necessary. The area was a flood of activity; a salarian game store clerk was shouting about discounts on the new 'Galaxy of Fantasy' expansion packs, and the drell was sure he could hear Shepard's voice being played a PA system outside a cafe.

The drell assassin had learnt alot travelling with Commander Shepard. When he had stormed the Dantius Towers, he had planned to die there, fighting off waves of eclipse mercenaries until he finally fell. But then Shepard had turned up and asked for his help; and how could he refuse? The paths he took in his life were always distraught and full of unplesantness, and Shepard's mission against the Collectors had been no different, so he had no reason not to do so. Shepard's crew was something different.

They were a mixed and charismatic bunch. They had a convict, viglante, justicar, master thief, three quarians of varying skills and so much more. And Shepard himself had always treated the drell has an equal; Mr. Taylor was always skeptical and hostile towards him, and understandably, but Shepard had treated him like a person that belonged. He did this with all of his crew. He was of a unique character, and because of that, Thane thought of him not as a comrade or fellow person, but a friend. It was a quality Thane couldn't share with many people he met; the assassin's life was usually one of solitude.

All these thoughts and more clouded his mind as he moved towards the C-Sec Outpost, one particular memory hitting him as he moved towards Captain Bailey's desk.

_Thane doubled back to his cover, lowering his rifle and watching his allies move in. The bulky form of the krogan came first, shotgun in hand, roaring with laughter. Than came an asari, adorned in a red uniform. 'A Justicar? Interesting,' I thought. The rest of the squad followed; a turian with a sniper rifle, a half-naked tattooed human, a human in alliance combat armor with tech armor, another human wearing a cerberus uniform and finally a quarian with a shotgun with the leading man himself. The way the quarian and himself stayed close caused the drell to quirk a brow. 'The quarian is his siha,' he thought._

The memories faded away and he was almost at Bailey's desk.  _I lost my own siha a long time ago, and I miss her dearly. Shepard is a lucky man, and unique to find love in a non-human. I may not have Irikah anymore, but I still have something important. And now that we have reconciled, we can finally talk to one another again._

He arrived at the human C-Sec officer's desk, reptilian hands folded behind his back, waiting. He waited for a bit before the human captain finally noticed him and looked up from his terminal. Upon seeing who it was, he forgot about his objection and let a smile cross his face, "Ah, you must be Thane. Is there something I can do for you?"

"I'd like to see my son, Kolyat," Thane requested.

"Of course you do," Bailey replied, leaning back in his seat, "I'm sorry to tell you, but he's still out on community service. He most likely won't be back for another hour at the most. After that, I can release him and you can talk to him. I didn't take his whole 'assassinate the anti-human' thing to court, so all he got was community service, lucky kid. Not all kids are as lucky as yours."

"To which I'm grateful," Thane thanked, looking for a seat, "I shall wait until he returns."

"Suit yourself. Better find somewhere comfy, it'll be a while," Bailey told him, nodding to the drell as he turned back to his console and began typing into it again. Just as the drell left the customs outpost, he could hear Bailey begin to chastise someone for doing something wrong. Thane just found a place to sit and waited for his son's return, hoping he didn't do anything rash.

Finally, after an hour, like Bailey said, Kolyat returned, a mop and bucket held firmly in his hands as he approached the janitorial closet. Thane got up and followed him, waiting for him to finish in the closet before greeting him. As Kolyat came out, he almost leapt back in surprise from seeing Thane, thinking he was someone trying to spring him, "By Arashu! Don't do that, father."

"I apologize," the assassin replied, motioning to Bailey's desk, "Once you've signed out, would you like to accompany me to a local cafe? We haven't spoken since I stopped your assassination of Joram Talid."

Kolyat let a meek smile cross his features, "That sounds...good, father. Just let me sign out and I'll join you."

Thane nodded and waited outside, once more contemplating all that Shepard had done for him. He turned back to Kolyat, who was currently speaking with Bailey. He watched his son talk, and a smile crept across his face.  _Shepard not only lifted me from my battle sleep, but he let me see my son again. To stop him from walking a deadly path. He let me reconcile with my son, to which I'm eternally grateful. He's all I have left now; with Irikah gone, Kolyat's all the family I'll ever have..._

Eventually, Kolyat returned and nodded to his father, who quickly turned around and walked over to the cafe nearby, ordering a couple of drell-friendly drinks for both of them before taking a seat in the cafe, away from most of the commotion. The store was occupied by a single elcor and hanar, two volus and a couple asari. The only turian was the woman behind the counter, and she seemed pretty bored.

As Thane came back with the drinks, he placed them on the table and took a seat across from his son, hands clasped on the table. He looked at Kolyat, watching as the drell eagerly gulped at his drink, looking as if he hadn't had a drink in ages.  _He's still as ecstatic as he was when I left him on Kahje all those years ago. He was always so energetic, so full of life. Irikah used to call him 'Qualiz', God of Energy reborn. She loved Kolyat so much, said he had a part of herself in him, and his father's determination._ He felt weak without Irikah, but with his new band of friends, and Kolyat? He felt stronger than before.

"Father?"

"Yes Kolyat?"

"Are you okay? You're crying."

Thane quickly wiped away the tears that had formed on his cheeks and smiled, "Its nothing Kolyat. So, tell me what you've been up to."

And father and son talked. Two people seperated for decades, reunited by a galactic hero. Anything seemed to be possible in a galaxy like this.

**"So, next it was time to say goodbye to Hannah and head for Illium."**

**\- Tali'Shepard pav Rannoch.**

**"With some problems along the way."**

**\- Marcus Shepard.**

_**A/N:** _

_**I suck at writing Thane okay! Its not my fault...well, actually it is, as I just don't seem to like the Thane character as much as everyone else. He's a great character and well-developed, I just simply can't write him, no matter how hard I try, so scenes with Thane will be short and to the point. Don't worry though, I won't marginalize him. Actually, he'll play a more pivotal part as the story progresses.** _

_**This might be the last chapter I do for a while, so don't get your hopes up. School just started up again and Year Ten promises to be brutal to me. However, I might get lucky, so I guess we'll see. You'll just have to keep your fingers crossed. But at least I've got motivation; I bet you guys will want to see how the whole Marcus/Jack thing will turn out.** _


	8. Dilemmas At Best

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Shepard and Tali explore their relationship further.

**REQUIEM**

**CHAPTER SEVEN:**

**DILEMMAS AT BEST**

_**A/N** _   
_**Warning: Smut Ahead. You have been warned.** _

_October 15, 2185_

_2352 hours._

_Docking Bay D5, Romulus Docks, Romulus Wards, The Citadel._

_Commander Marcus Lee Shepard, Chief Engineer Tali'Zorah vas Normandy, Captain Hannah Rila Shepard._

Marcus watched as the SSV Orizaba came into view, the massive dreadnought only just fitting into the dock it was latched to. He remembered the vessel like it was yesterday; the length of the vessel was almost impossible to determine from where he was standing, but it was huge. The Killmanjaro-class dreadnought looked like one long rectangle with two wings stretching its length, moving diagonally down its spine before meeting at the bow of the ship in two long antennae. The bow sported the Systems Alliance insignia, and not far down, the vessel's name. The bridge was located down near the rear of the ship. It was an impressive sight to behold.

He watched with a smile as Tali looked in awe at the vessel, impressed by its size. Alliance dreadnoughts weren't anywhere near the size of a quarian liveship; a matter of fact, Marcus was sure that liveships were bigger than even Reapers and Collector cruisers, but still not bigger than asari Ascension-class dreadnoughts, so that was something for him to take note of. Still, it was nice to see Tali examine advanced vessels like she did in the old days. Somethings change, others don't, he supposed.

He yawned, remembering just how long the day had been and how tired he was. He could see Tali was as well; her slumped posture and overall poor attempts at reciprocating showed just how tired she was. But it was nice talking to his mother again after so long, and to know that she approved of his non-human girlfriend. Hannah smiled, looking at them both from the vehicle's internal rear-vision mirror, making the final descent to the landing pad just outside the ship.

Finally, after what seemed like an eternity, the skycar landed and all three of them got out, moving towards the airlock of the colossal dreadnought. A long, portable bridge extended out of the decking and connected with the ship's airlock, and standing there, waiting, was half a squad of alliance marines along with a familiar, italian face...

Marcus smiled as he approached and so did the figure, both of them waving at each other. He heard Tali once again yawn beside him, and he reached out his hand, waiting as Tali took his hand in hers, letting him know she hadn't fallen down asleep yet. They'd get plenty of that tonight. Hand-in-hand, both of them and Hannah moved towards the vessel's airlock and finally reached it, Marcus letting go of Tali's hand to shake Phillip's hand.

"Commander Shepard!" Phillip greeted, shaking the spectre's hand gleefully, "It has been far too long; its good to see you again. I thought you were dead."

"You and the rest of the galaxy," Marcus replied, smirking, "Its good to see you still up and gunning, Phillip. Or do you prefer commander?"

The italian XO laughed, "I prefer Phillip. I no longer outrank you, so I guess we can cut the crappy formalities, no?" the man's smiled fell, his tone becoming dead serious, "I just want you to know that the crew of the Orizaba believe you about the Reaper threat and if you ever need our help, just call."

"Last I checked, I commanded this ship," Hannah piped up, moving to stand beside Phillip, grinning, "But I concur with Phillip's statement; Hackett is with you, and so am I. We may be assigned to the Fourth Fleet as Admiral Arefyev's flagship, but that doesn't mean we won't flock to the Fifth Fleet's side when the Reapers come. When they do, I don't think military formation and protocol will mean worth shit. And if she doesn't like it, she can stick it up her bueracratic-loving asshole."

"Commander, what are you doing here?"

Marcus sighed as he turned around, watching as another squad of marines approached, escorting none other than Fleet Admiral Viktoriya Arefyev. She came to a stop at the bridge connecting to the airlock, hands clasped behind her back. Marcus had an increasing feeling that the fleet admiral didn't like him, but it wasn't of his concern. His mother showed her support, and that's all he wanted.

He met the admiral's harsh glare with his own, "To see my mother, which is well within my right."

"I will decide what is-"

"No, you won't," Marcus declared, "I don't serve the Alliance anymore and I am a Council Spectre; you have no juristiction here, Fleet Admiral."

They both glared at each other for awhile before Arefyev finally broke it off with a cough, "Very well, Spectre Shepard, speak with the captain as you wish. Just don't try to corrupt her with your Reaper nonsense. I don't have room for lunatics on my vessel and I won't tolerate them. Captain Shepard, when you are done, report to the ship immediately. I wish to be gone from this political shithole quickly." And with that, Admiral Arefyev was gone, moving up the ramp to the ship, her marine bodyguards following her up.

Hannah glared at her, mumbling under her breath, "Communist cunt," she then turned back to her son, shrugging, "Well, I must report to my superior. She musn't know I'm 'corrupted.' It might ruin unit cohesion."

"If this were a quarian ship, you could have tossed her out the airlock for what she just did. A captain's rule is always the law on his or her ship," Tali pointed out.

Hannah smiled meekly at the quarian, "I wish I was quarian then; might have helped in the long run," she then turned back to her son, losing her smile, "I guess this is goodbye again."

Seeing as this was a private moment between mother and son, Tali broke away and moved to wait at the skycar, while Phillip quickly saluted both of them, quickly marching back up the ramp and into the ship before Admiral Arefyev came skulking again.

With both of them alone, Hannah turned to her son and smiled widely, immediately walking up to him and wrapping him in a tight hug, Marcus reciprocating not long after. They both held each other for awhile, the spectre able to hear his mother's sobs as she held him, two family members locked tightly. Marcus rubbed her back, comforting her as best he could.

Hannah eventually parted from him, sighing as she sniffed and wiped the tears from her eyes, putting on a big smile, "It was good to see you again, son."

Marcus smiled back, patting her shoulder, "You too, mum. We'll meet again, I promise. I'm not on a suicidal mission now, so I'll be fine."

She nodded, "You can never know in a galaxy like this Mark; just be careful. I lost you once, I can't lose you again," she looked over him and at Tali before turning back to him, a knowing grin on her face, "And you've found a special one there. She's adorable and I can tell she really cares about you; so don't you dare do anything to make her sad, or I'll kill you myself. Remember that."

Marcus chuckled, saluting her, "I'll look after her, mum. God gave me a second chance, and I'm not about to waste it. She means alot to me."

"As you do to me," she returned the snappy salute, tears gone and replaced with a serious expression, "I have a feeling she'll be a Shepard soon, so I guess I'll have a quarian daughter-in-law; something to look forward to," she gave him a knowing wink before easing her hand down, followed by Marcus'. She leaned in and kissed him on the cheek, cupping it with her other hand, "I'm so proud of you; you're doing humanity proud. Don't you dare stop. Don't let assholes like the brass or Udina weigh you down. We're here if you need us, remember that."

"I'll remember that mum. I love you," with that, he kissed her on the cheek, watching as she turned to leave up the ramp. She stopped at the start of it, turning back to her son and nodding, smile as vibrant as ever.

"I love you too, son," and with a final glance, she turned and marched up the ramp and into the Orizaba, airlock doors sealing shut behind her. His gaze lingered on the dreadnought's hull for a while longer before he turned around and marched back towards the skycar, Tali already in the passenger's seat and waiting. Ten meters away from the ship he almost flinched as he heard a loud boom, causing him to spin around on instinct.

But it was just the Orizaba's bow thrusters powering up. He watched in awe as the docking clamps keeping the colossal vessel docked unlatched with a mechanic moan and the ship began to slowly speed up and move backwards, Marcus watching blue energy pulsating at the front of the ship as the thrusters moved it out of dock.

Eventually, the dreadnought's form sped up and it quickly departed the dock, its bow getting clear of the area. With that, the bow thrusters deactivated and the ship's navigator brought her starboard, keeping this path until the alliance vessel faced the purple fog that was the Serpent Nebula. And with one final roar of the ship's powerful engines, the dreadnought powered towards its task force; four frigates and two heavy cruisers, before going to hit the Widow Relay. He missed his mother already, but he knew he would see her again, and for now, he still had the love of his life with him, and that was someone he truly couldn't live without.

He finished his trek towards the skycar, using his omni-tool to unlock the door to the driver's seat and swinging it open, allowing him to take a seat inside. With another flick, his omni-tool tapped into the car's systems and powered up the engines, holographic interface appearing before him. He deactivated his omni-tool and was about to ask Tali what she thought of the day when he heard one of the cutest sounds he had ever heard; Tali snoring.

He turned left, a grin on his face, as his eyes came to land on Tali's slouched and slumbering form, her arms crossed and her head tucked downwards, glowing beacons that were her eyes no longer present behind her mask. Her slow, steady breathing was all the movement seen on her form, her little snores the only sound. He smiled, leaning over and kissing her on the hood, before turning back to his console and quietly taking off, heading back to the Normandy.

It was twenty minutes past midnight on the Citadel when their skycar finally touched down outside the Normandy, Marcus quietly shutting down the skycar and opening the door on both their sides. He stepped out as quietly as he could and into the darkness, closed his door and tip-toed over to Tali's side, where he gently slid his hands under her form and picked her up in his arms, careful not to disturb the quarian's sleep.

He moved over to the Normandy's airlock and immediately remembered the loud sound the Normandy's decon beam made when doing a sweep, but when it started, no sound could be heard. He looked up and for a moment was confused, but when he realized the AI responsible, he gave her a silent thank you and waited for the decon sequence to finish, which wasn't long.

He stepped out onto the brightly lit flight deck, turning to the cockpit to see Joker absent.  _Most likely in his sleeper pod._ He did the same as he did outside and quickly, but quietly, moved down the empty flight deck and through the empty CIC, over to the elevator. When he got there, he was about to thump the elevator but it seemed to open of its own accord, EDI silently helping him again. He moved inside and watched as the door closed and the elevator moved up to deck one, seemingly of its own accord.

He hummed silently as he felt the warmth radiate from Tali's body, having her so close to him. She just continued to snore, oblivious to her current situation and location. He felt a hand grope at his shirt and tightly grip it, repositioning herself into a more comfortable position in his arms, an action which he personally found adorable. It was moments like these that he fought for; he fought the geth, destroyed the Collectors and wanted to stop the Reapers so he and Tali could share moments like this forever; to live life together. Tali gave him purpose, and he wanted to return the favor.

The elevator arrived and he quickly moved into the Captain's Quarters, waiting for EDI to unlock it. Once it shut behind him, he locked it and didn't even bother checking his terminal as he moved down the steps and towards the bed, stopping at the edge to ease Tali onto the sheets. The cabin was completely dark aside from the blue light cast by the aquarium, and the only sound was the bubbles from said fish tank. Her head hit the pillow first, followed by the rest of her body and she quickly snuggled into it, mumbling Marcus' name in her sleep. He chuckled lightly to himself before placing the covers over her and up to her shoulders, moving to kiss her on the hood, "Goodnight, Tali. Sleep well. I love you."

Tali's snort was all the reply he got.

With a lopsided grin on his face he moved to the other side of the bed, taking his shirt off and stripping down to his boxers, leaving his clothes folded on the couch, just like how his mother taught him.  _Seeing her again as reawakened old habits._ He also took off his omni-tool and placed it on the bed-side table on his side. He kept the same grin as she slid under the blanket with Tali, wrapping her in his arm as he entered a spooning position with his girlfriend. He joined his warmth with hers and kissed the nape of her neck, lying back down. All he saw was the back of Tali's hood as his eyes closed shut and he drifted off to sleep.

The Collectors were gone and the Reapers had yet to arrive. For now, he could enjoy this. This beautiful, euphoric moment. And in a moment, he was asleep, both of them, in blissful, wonderful slumber. One where they only dreamt of each other, and not of their imminent destruction. It was amazing.

**{Loading...}**

_October 16, 2185_

_1139 hours._

_Armoury, Normandy-Class Stealth Frigate Normandy SR-2, Docked with the Citadel._

_Major General Kal'Reegar vas Normandy, Second Lieutenant Jacob Taylor, Staff Commander Kaidan Alenko._

Kal had been skeptical a month ago when Marcus asked him to join the Normandy. It was a Cerberus ship full of non-quarians and just about every possible unknown was stuffed into the ship. The marine in him told him it was a mistake joining the crew, while he told himself it was the best decision and would allow him to actually speak with Madi, unlike when he was on the Flotilla, and both of them were constantly training, performing ops or training officers.

But Tali had joined the crew of the Normandy and trusted Shepard with her life, so how bad could it have been?

As it turned out, it  _was_ the best decision he had ever made. The crew was nothing like he thought they would be; xenophobic, hateful and prejudiced. But everywhere he went, all he got was politeness and people treating him like he was just any other productive member of the team. Learning that Tali was sleeping with Captain Shepard wasn't any surprise to him, but the fact that rumors flew around that both of them had linked suits had shocked him. Tali must trust him alot to have devoted herself like that.

He checked on Madi almost every hour of the day now. Her condition was improving, ableit slowly and there were some days that Chakwas restricted access to the medical bay so that she could run further tests on the quarian's suit systems. He liked seeing her and just talking, along with the occassional kiss that the doctor would allow, but otherwise, she would be fine to walk around in a few weeks, and a month after that, ready for combat duty.

Working in the armoury was a job the quarian had taken to well and while working with a Cerberus loyalist, it was still enjoyable and really did help pass the time. And Jacob was actually a very nice person to talk to when you got to know him, but from what he heard, he wasn't all that popular around the ship, and he could see why. He wasn't exactly an interesting guy; a nice and courteous person, yes, but his background was about as interesting as the history of a fuel line.

Kaidan was different. He was very openly minded and from what he heard, despised Cerberus to the bone, having fought them tooth and nail in the past, but had joined the ship out of loyalty to Shepard. He was an obvious patriot of the Alliance and sometimes stated how much he missed his friends back on Earth, not to mention his parents, but knew his place was on the Normandy, fighting the Reaper threat. And after seeing what Shepard could do in combat, Kal knew who'd he'd lend his gun to in the end.

He stood at his designated weapons bench, having recently disassembled a M-37 Falcon grenade launching assault rifle and had layed it fully on the bench, ready to reassemble it. He had been doing this to all the weapons in the armoury just to pass the time, and so far, it had worked well for him. The M-37 was a unique weapon because it was manufactured by the Systems Alliance, and was technically a grenade launcher, but used thermal clips, making it an assault rifle.

This armoury had basically every weapon on the market, save all the N7 weapons, and the assault rifles interested him the most; the M-55 Argus, M-99 Saber, M-96 Harrier, M-96 Mattock, M-8 Avenger, M-15 Vindicator. They were all here, save the experimental quarian Adas Anti-Synthetic Rifle, but that hadn't even been deployed on the field yet.

He was about to pick up the barrel of the weapon when the armoury door opened and the familiar face of Zaeed Massani, disgruntled as ever, walked into the room, garnering the attention of Kal, Jacob and Kaidan. The mercenary veteran ignored them and found a bench at the end of the room, slamming a rusty looking avenger assault rifle down on the bench and beginning to play around with it, obviously trying to do something. This only confirmed the quarian's suspicions when the bounty hunter began to curse under his breath. The marine turned to Jacob, looking for input, to which he simply shrugged.

"Just leave him be Reegar," Jacob requested, turning back to his bench and his terminal, "I'm sure he'll finish whatever he's doing and then leave. Best if we just stay out of it," after that, the ex-Cerberus operative turned away from his console and cracked his neck, grinning like a bosh'tet, "Now, if you two don't mind, I'm going to go do some workouts in the shuttle bay. Work myself up so I can claim the prize."

Kaidan guffawed at that, teary eyes fixing on Jacob who looked at him like he had just claimed gravity didn't matter, "Are you okay, Alenko?"

"I'm fine," the marine got out inbetween heaving breaths and laughter, "But...seriously...the...prize? Who...the hell...says...that!"

The laughter quickly became contagious and Kal found himself joining in, beginning his own fit of chuckling. Zaeed seemed undistracted, solely focused on fixing his damn rifle.

Jacob rolled his eyes, "Whatever; we'll see who's laughing when I'm the one getting the chicks."

Kal stopped laughing and gave the dark-skinned human a quizzical look, "Chicks?"

Kaidan stopped laughing long enough to explain it to the quarian, "Not translating? Its a slang term. Chicks is short for chicken, which are these dumb animals on Earth. Chicks is also a name that can also be given to chicken's offspring, which are renowned for being abnormally cute. So, hence the term 'chicks.' We call women 'chicks' because of...well...obvious reasons."

Kal scoffed, "I've already got a girlfriend, one I plan to marry, so by all means, collect as many 'chicks' as you want, Taylor."

Jacob shrugged, turning to the door, Kaidan yelling after him, "Act fast too; that Kasumi has eyes on you, but I think Garrus does too."

With that, Jacob increased his pace and ran out the door, causing Kaidan and Kal to look each other and break into another fit of laughter before both returned to their work benches to continue what they were doing. Jacob was technically the Armourer-in-Chief, but Kal and Kaidan were roughly on par in rank, so they shared command of the area, but in this case, Kal was in command while Jacob was gone. To be given such power on a human vessel also showed just how much different Shepard was to standard military.

Zaeed growled again and slammed his rifle back down, cursing. Finally having enough, and the merc's constant cussing becoming a distraction, Kal ceased what he was doing and marched over to Zaeed's bench, stopping infront of it and watching as the bounty hunter pretended he wasn't there. But Kal wasn't going to be warded off easily.

"You going to look at me bosh'tet?" Kal demanded.

Zaeed looked at him, annoyance on his face, "What do you guddam want, quarian? Can't you see I'm trying to fix Jessie?"

"Listen here you bosh-wait, Jessie? Who's Jessie?" Kal asked, confused.

The grizzled mercenary picked up his rusted avenger and held it up infront of the quarian, "This is Jessie; this assault rifle has killed more men and women then you've killed geth. This baby killed the krogan Warlord Gesark, the former CEO of the Blood Pack on Omega. This dusty rifle killed more men then died in the Skyllian Blitz. That rifle helped me board, take and destroy the THS Verikan, a turian frigate. That shitty rifle helped me kill turians, hanar, elcor walking tanks, asari commandos, salarian STG agents and much more. The day I lay Jessie to rest...," the mercenary's look looked almost...sad, as he gazed nostalgically at his rifle, "...that was one of the saddest days of my life. I'd give up any of my weapons to have one more battle with this shitty old rifle. All the techs I took her too said she couldn't be fixed, but I'm going to prove them wrong."

Kal smiled behind his mask and leaned on the bench, "I could help. Let me have a look."

Zaeed shrugged, handing the quarian his favourite rifle, "Give it a shot then; you'll have no more luck then I did. Jessie's dead; that's clear as day. I remember the time I had to put her out of commission; it was one mission against this Eclipse base, it was when I met Captain Enyala. I was about to kill her when my rifle jammed up, gave her just enough time to throw me across the room and make her escape. Can't believe I fucked that painted asari whore, and I wish I could have done the job myself when we met again on Illium, but I guess-"

"There we go," Kal interrupted, clicking the mass acellerator into place, switching it on and waiting for it to charge. Zaeed was skeptical for a moment but his eyes practically lit up when he heard the weapon's safety click on and a blue hum appear inside. The merc looked at it in wide-eyed surprise and for a moment, just stared. But after a bit, he lunged forward, grabbed the rifle and held it in his hands. He turned to the side, pulled the trigger and practically laughed in glee when a shot pierced the bulkhead.

He turned to the quarian, a wide grin across his face, the former Blue Suns merc ecstatic, "How in guddam hell did you get it working? Every tech I saw-"

"Were obviously idiots who had no business handling a gun. And trust me, I'm a marine. I'm to guns what Miss Zorah is to engines," Kal replied, nodding at the weapon in Zaeed's palm, which the mercenary was now scrubbing to get rid of the thick coating of rust collecting on it, "The reason your weapon jammed is because you simply overheated the mass acellerator. However, the weapon had obviously been overtasked before hand, because the weapon's interior microfan that cools down the mass acellerator barrel was overtasked and couldn't compensate, and without the microfan, you're weapon doesn't cooldown. Weapon doesn't cooldown, it jams up. Any skilled weapons tech would see that immediately."

"Yeah, I did kill alot of Enyala's men before hand," Zaeed rubbed the back of his neck, cradling 'Jessie' like a newborn baby. He turned to Kal and slapped him on the shoulder, "I'm starting to like you, quarian. You did damn good. I'd goddam kiss you if you were a girl, or if you had lips..."

Kal chuckled, "I might have chosen to take offense to that. Quarians have lips, you just can't see them."

"Good, now I don't have to imagine that Tali girl sucking Shepard's face off with suckers," Zaeed laughed.

Kal narrowed his eyes, "Suckers? Who the hell told you quarians have suckers?"

"Vakarian, he's been spreading rumors around about those two. Apparently he had a betting thing going on betting on when they'd fuck," the mercenary shrugged, picking up his rifle and shining a credit chit in the quarian's face...metaphorically speaking, "I won. I said they'd do it before the Collector Base attack, and they did."

"How did you know?" Kal asked as Zaeed made to leave the armoury, but the merc stopped at the quarian's question and turned around, a huge grin on his face.

"EDI told me," Zaeed informed the soldier.

"EDI? As in the ship's AI?" Kal growled, "What Shepard and Tali do is private, and that AI just decided to spy on them...it watched them suit-linking?"

"Suit-linking?" Zaeed asked, confused, "What the fuck is-"

EDI's hologram showed itself, deciding not to hide any longer, "Suit-linking is the quarian name given to two quarians engaging in sexual intercourse, Mr. Massani."

"Oh," Zaeed replied, about to answer Kal's hostile question when EDI decided to answer for itself.

"And no, Mr. Reegar, I did not spy on Miss Zorah and Shepard 'linking suits,'" EDI declared, "I merely knew what was going on and informed Mr. Vakarian and Ms. Goto. When I saw what they were about to do, I deactivated all the cameras I have in the Captain's Cabin and let them have their privacy. All elevator activity to deck one was restricted per his orders."

"You didn't have to tell anyone. Noone needed to know what they were doing," Kal told the AI.

Kaidan guffawed, garnering a soft glare from the quarian marine, "Come on Kal, I've known them both since the days on the SR-1 and even then they were lovey-dovey, and they did a horrible job of hiding it. Sex is even harder to cover up."

Zaeed pointed at Kaidan and nodded, "Kid has a point; you should listen to him. Word was going to get out eventually, might as well be straight away," he turned to leave but stopped, turning to Kal once more, "And you did a good job, Reegar, I didn't think anyone could fix my poor old shitty Jessie. T...thank you," and then he left, as if embarassed by the statement.

Kaidan looked wide-eyed, "Did Zaeed just  _thank someone?_ Whoa, Garrus needs to hear of this. It could change everything," Kaidan grinned.

Kal rolled his eyes, turning back to his work bench, "Indeed."

EDI wasn't gone, "Zaeed is heading down to the garbage disposal area. He is unaware that Tali is there, waiting to kill him with a chainsaw."

Both men looked at the holographic pawn and waited for a moment, shocked faces worn. But, just as they were about to comm Joker, EDI spoke up once more, her new, classic line coming out smoothy like it always did.

"That was a joke."

Kaidan shook his head, unamused, "You really have to work on those humor functions, EDI. You're terrible at this."

"Joker seems to imply this as well," EDI replied, "I shall search the extranet for better jokes: searching...search complete. Sex jokes are commonly seen as funny, although immature, by most species. Would you like me to make a sex joke?"

"Come back later when you learn to deliver a joke better," Kal told it, not wanting to hear what a 'sex joke' was.

"Very well Reegar. Alenko," EDI responded, hologram disappearing, "Logging you out."

Kal shook his head again and turned back to his work bench, once again wondering how he came to be on such an unusual ship.

Pure luck, he guessed.

**{Loading...}**

_October 16, 2185_

_1012 hours._

_Captain's Quarters, Normandy-Class Stealth Frigate Normandy SR-2, Departing the Citadel._

_Commander Marcus Lee Shepard, Chief Engineer Tali'Zorah vas Normandy._

He felt warmth; not the typical one you got from staying under a blanket for a long amount of time, but the kind you got from another body pressed to yours. It was sweet and momentful, when he felt that warmth, he felt no great weight on his shoulders or any trepidation, he felt no vehemence or felt threatened, he just felt euphoria, solace and tranquility. Most of all, he felt love. Someone he loved very much pressed against him, holding him, keeping him safe. Most wouldn't know it, but he treasured that safety.

His eyes slowly opened, getting used to the darkness. It was no longer dark anymore; the light of the Serpent Nebula leaking into the cabin as the Normandy left the dock under his orders and headed for the Widow Relay; their journey to Illium beginning.  _Liara will help us; I know she will. I just hope the Shadow Broker hasn't gotten to her first. If she's hurt...no, she'll be fine._ Pink light filled the cabin and he felt someone shift against him, purple veil giving away their identity. He smiled dreamily.

He looked up and saw Tali's eyes meet his, helmet turned to face him, no longer in a spooning position. By the way her eyes moved and shrunk, he could tell she was smiling under that mask, a three-fingered hand messaging his back. He moved his own hand down to her thigh, gently stroking its length. She tightened herself against him, not wanting to let go.

Finally, Tali spoke again, her voice sultry, "Remember how I said I wasn't sick anymore? Well, I wasn't lying. I'm not sick anymore, and I don't have to report to engineering for a couple of hours, so if you just...I don't know..." he felt her other hand moved to inbetween his legs and softly begun to stroke the area where his groin was located. He closed his eyes and inhaled, reveling in her touch.  _It will be better when I can actually touch her._ His other hand began stroking her tricep, smiling.

His voice was a whisper, "Well, I got a good night sleep, and I'm pretty comfortable, so I guess I'm not particulary tired either..."

The quarian once again smiled behind her mask and opened her omni-tool, immediately hitting a button that would inject antibiotics and herbal supplements into her immune system and strengthen it. They usually worked quickly, so by the time she was out of the suit, they would be flowing through her.

With that done, she took off her omni-tool and placed it on the table next to them before turning back to him, and guiding his hands as they took off her mask. Taking that, she placed it on the bedside table as well and turned back to face him, her face revealed once more. He cupped one of her smooth cheeks, a line of freckles lining her pale grey skin. Her eyes glowed, but not powerfully and her nose was small but still big enough to be human. And when he pulled her hood back, long, raven hair piled out, barely going past her shoulders and exposing a pair of elf-like pointed ears. Her rosey red lips showed years of neglect. But that had changed.

Tali hummed as she was once again exposed to the cool air of the cabin, just letting Marcus' hand rest on her cheek and his other hand moved through her hair, enjoying the sensations they brought. She closed her eyes and put her hand up, using the other to take the glove off said hand and throw it away. Once gone, her uncovered hand landed on Marcus' own cheek, where she revelled in the feel of his own skin on hers. She giggled when she felt wet lips hit her palm and cooed to the feeling of the wet trail it left.

Eventually, she opened her eyes and Marcus leaned in, both of their lips crashing together in a hybrid of love and lust and passion. Mouths opened and tongues explored each other, both finding new ways to pleasure each other with just a single, long-winded kiss.

They stayed in this position for a few minutes before finally breaking for air, both of them smiling like idiots. After a bit, lips locked again, Tali rolling ontop of Marcus as she did.  _He controlled our lovemaking last time; now its my turn._ While ontop of him, she spread her legs and straddled him, three-fingered hands moving across his muscled abs and making sure to feel every crevice and spot she could find, smiling gently as she did.

Hands fixed around her golden neck brace and removed it, dumping on the floor next to them as Marcus leaned up and let his lips explore the exposed skin, causing Tali to coo and moan in response to the sensations. It was pure euphoria. Their lovemaking last time had been rushed and desperate, a speedy dash of long-buried passion and lust. Now they had all the time they wanted; noone to disturb them.

Their lovemaking eventually sped up and Marcus found himself pinned to the bed as Tali slowly unlatched the clasps on her suit. She teased him and kept him pinned to the bed, only allowing his hands to reach up to her hips and no further. So he was forced to watch as her hands travelled up and down her form, fiddling with every clasp she came across, and doing it agonizingly slow, an evil grin on her face.

Her movements were graceful and fluid; hands dancing in tandem to remove their prison from their host so they can join with their other half in a bundle of love. He watched as Tali's beautiful and unique purple veil, with its patterns and swirls, fell from her lithe form and was thrown away, her petite, sexy form unveiled to Marcus, who was getting impatient. Next came the latches of her suit, all hissing as they disengaged and fell from her suit, landing heavily on the bed before she unstrapped her utility belt and threw them across the room to land on the couch. Finally done, she began to reveal herself slowly, gracefully and most of all, teasingly.

Her shoulders were exposed first, followed by her deceivingly large breasts, that seemed to pop out like balloons being inflated, followed by the rest of her torso. Eventually, her suit was hanging around her waist when Marcus lost patience, leaned up and locked his lips with hers again, the quarian's smile lost as she didn't push him back but continued the kiss, both of them moaning as their tongues locked and danced, hands cradling each other's heads.

She finally pushed her lover onto his back, allowing her to completely rid herself of the suit. She tossed it away, and then tore off her boots, followed by her boot knife and shin pads and finally leggings. When it was all said and done, she lay completely naked before him; a goddess in all her glory. A goddess that was currently straddling him; forcing him to ignore the feeling of his bulge bumping up against her arse.

She smiled wickedly down at him before leaning down and leaving little, wet pecks on his chest, moving her way up, past his neck, his chin, his beard and...past his lips. He wanted to growl in impatience, but simply let her control the pace. But it was hard to ignore his base urges when such a beautiful woman was ontop of him, naked. She left a peck on every surface she could; on his nose, his cheeks, his chin, his forehead, his hair and...he winced and grinned when he felt her bite the tip of his ear, leaving a little kiss there as well as she came back, eyes meeting his before her lips crashed back into his, rewarding him for his patience.

He watched as she pulled away, smiling as their forwards touched, slowing down their lovemaking for the moment as they breathed each other in. He heard her sigh, and once again loved the sound of it. Not synthesized by a mask filter, but her pure voice, and it was like honey.

"I love you Marcus," Tali told him, giving another quick peck, before moving downward alittle, "And this morning, I'm going to show you just how much I care about you."

"I love you too, but I'm sure there are other ways to show you appreciate me than sex," Marcus grinned.

"Are you complaining?" Tali asked, grin wicked.

"Most certainly not Miss vas Normandy," Marcus replied, voice innocent.

She giggled, giving him a knowing look before sliding down his form and beginning where she left off, leaving more pecks on his body as she travelled down his torso, past his waist and towards the bulge in his boxers. Tali's head moved under the sheets as she spread his leg and grabbed hold of his boxers, pulling them down, Marcus assisting her by straightening his legs for her to pull them down. Once done, she tossed them in his face, and he immediately grabbed it, laughing, and tossed it away.

He shuddered as wet lips brushed against the tip of his erect manhood and warm breath tickled it. He looked down to see Tali looming over it, giving him a look he couldn't describe; it was lustful, yet so adorably innocent. He didn't know what to make of it.  _How can she look so innocent while doing something so...not-innocent?_

She continued this until she flicked her tongue out and traced circles around his tip, causing him to shudder more and shift in anticipation, an instinct built into his body for a long time. She smiled and her hand moved forward, grabbing his cock around the center and gripping it, beginning to stroke it casually. He himself made cooing sounds and even moaned as she pleasured him with her hand, the quarian careful not to get him off and Marcus did all he could to hold himself in.

It didn't take long for Tali to get bored of simply stroking his erect organ and finally let go, wrapping her mouth around his shaft and moving downward, Marcus surprised when she was able to take it fully in her mouth.  _Do quarians not have a gag reflex!?_ He moaned louder than before and continued to do so as she had her way with him, Marcus gripping the sheets as she sucked him. She occassionally licked him, but apart from that, the cabin was silent save for the sounds of Marcus moaning and Tali's silent moaning as she sucked him off.

After a couple of minutes, Tali stopped and lifted her mouth from his penis and got up, moving herself forward. He saw the look in her eyes. They were filled with lust and passion. She needed him, and she seemed to be done with teasing, instead just wanting him right there and now. Both of them still under the blanket, Tali positioned her hips over his manhood, grabbed it and then directed it into her, the quarian falling down on his manhood and crying out as he entered her.

While her eyes were closed and she was simply getting reused to the feeling of him penetrating her, he leaned up and buried his head into her breasts once more, kissing and licking to increase the pleasure for her and himself. He heard her moan as she grabbed the back of his head and pushed him further onto her, the quarian arching her head back as she moaned softly, both sensations sending her over the edge. Subconsciously, she began to twist and spin her hips around in a circle, sending sensations through both of them.

Tali's moaning got louder and louder until she had to fight down on Marcus' shoulder to keep her scream of ecstasy from being heard below as she orgasmed around Marcus' manhood. She shuddered and fell onto Marcus, while the spectre hummed at the feeling of Tali's warm liquids sliding past him and onto his dick.

But Tali seemed unwilling to stop there, always thinking of others first, even when blinded by lust and passion. She let Marcus lick and bite at her hardened nipples for a while longer and then pushed him back onto the pillows, locked her lips with his and began an up-and-down thrusting motion on Marcus' manhood, all the while both of them moaned into each other's mouths. Marcus, all the while, barely seemed to notice the bitemark on his shoulder left by Tali's slightly sharper molar teeth.

Tali continued to thrust up and down until finally they both parted lips and Tali sat up on her lover's lap, placing her feet on either side of Marcus' head, her hands gripping his legs and using them for support and physically began lifting herself up and down, each time landing harder and faster on Marcus, riding him into the bed like somekind of feral beast.

Marcus could tell they were both nearing climaxes; Tali's moaning was getting progressively louder and Marcus could practically feel his seed coming and gripped the sheets harder as he let Tali ride him. But he couldn't, wouldn't, just sit here as Tali had her way with him. This was a battlefield, and be damned if Marcus let Tali win.

Marcus shot up and grabbed Tali's hips until she had her back on the bed, blankets tossed away and both of them, feeling hotter than the room temperature, and Tali's arms falling to her sides, legs at Marcus' hips. She thought she knew the position and her legs locked around his waist, but she didn't know. He pulled out of her, turned her away around until she was on all fours and facing the sofa and entered her from behind, gripping her hips as he pumped in and out, in and out, in and out, each of their cries intensifying in crescendo.

Tali climaxed before him; unable to cover up her screams as he felt her already dripping womanhood clench around his cock, warm liquid pulsating out of her as she shuddered and felt her arms give way, letting her crash forward. But Marcus wasn't done, and he just kept pumping into her until he finally gave way and all his seed spilled into her, both of them letting out loud, but contained, moans of pleasure.

They both stayed there for a few moments before Marcus pulled out of her and collapsed backwards onto the bed, Tali crawling up next to him to join him. They were both feeling like furnaces, so they decided to lay there uncovered, their naked forms exposed to the outside world as they lay there, wrapped up in each other's arms, breathing heavily, the cool air of the cabin feeling cold and nice against their skin.

He felt one of Tali's hands tracing his ribcage and Marcus just stroked her arm repeatedly, both of them not needing words. They had let their feelings flow out in their lovemaking, so there was nothing that needed to be said. They loved each other immensely, and damn anyone who didn't like it.

Finally, after twenty minutes of silence, Tali spoke up, "Keelah, that was amazing. Definitely better than the first time. Although, you didn't get to do that thing you did with your tongue."

Marcus took a second to realize she was quoting something and he chuckled, "You've been watching far too much Game of Thrones. I'm going to have to cut you off."

Tali giggled with him, "Just try and stop me, bosh'tet. I have a shotgun and a combat drone named Chiktika."

"And with your energy in bed, I imagine you'll be unstoppable," Marcus jested and was rewarded with a playful slap to the chest. He sighed heavily as both of them went into silence again. Five minutes later, Marcus interrupted the solace this time, his look of happiness replaced with a look of concern, "You going to be okay?"

Tali nodded silently, looking blankly at Marcus' chest, mind somewhere else. Finally, she responded, shaking out of her thoughts, "I'll be fine; it'll just be the same fever again, although slightly less bad considering our first time. It'll take time and alot more tries, but I'll eventually adapt to you."

"Adapt to me?" Marcus asked, curiosity peaked, "Does that mean...?"

Tali looked at him, eyebrow quirked, "It means we can kiss, make love or simply be around one another without me getting sick, yes. It'll just take time. Time which I'm sure we'll have," she added seductively.

He smiled, taking her hand and kissing it on the palm, "I look forward to it; I've got a surprise for you coming up, although you'll probably have to wait a while to get it."

"Do you now?" Tali asked, grin plastered on her face, "And what kind of surprise, hmmmm?"

"Something waiting on Illium," Marcus told her, teasing her in return for her tease during their lovemaking, "You'll find out; wouldn't be a surprise if I told you now."

They lay there for a bit longer; just savouring each other's presence.

**{Loading...}**

_October 16, 2185_

_1323 hours._

_Captain's Quarters, Normandy-Class Stealth Frigate Normandy SR-2, In FTL inbound for Illium._

_Commander Marcus Lee Shepard._

Marcus stood there, silently looking at his terminal, not knowing what else to do. He had showered, cleaned himself up and put on the usual; his N7 cap, shirt and hoodie. The special clothes he ordered were neatly stashed away, waiting to be used later. He smiled as he thought of them, but quickly turned back to his terminal and sighed, wiping his face. Miranda had transfered all the files over to his terminal so he could review some of them, and he did, careful not to skim over any useful data while Miranda took a break.

He picked up the coffee mug that Gardner had brought up and took a sip, smiling at the pleasant warmth that travelled down his throat. His mind wandered to the morning he had shared with Tali, and how good it had felt.  _Only about the second time we've done it. But damn is she beautiful...and sexy. Its a crime to lock such a woman behind a suit and mask._ They had both cleaned up and had a shower together an hour ago, Tali putting her suit back on and leaving for engineering, while Marcus planned to do the rounds after he was finished reviewing all the information Miranda had sent him.

It was mostly information on Cerberus' movements and the galaxy's reaction to the extinction of the Collectors. Many thought it was wrong to exterminate an entire species, while others are glad their gone, saying they were a galactic menace that needed removal. The Omega 4 Relay was still a no fly zone, but at least the people knew the truth about where it lead and what the Collectors did behind it before meeting their demise.  _The Collectors, their ships, their horror house and that abominable Human-Reaper, all gone. Reduced to smoldering wreckage in the heart of some black hole in the galactic core._

A light flickered and died behind him and he sighed, standing up and hitting it, causing it to turn on. The Captain's Quarters hadn't suffered much damage from the battle, but the lights did happen to flicker a little, a fact that very much annoyed the spectre as she sat back down and kept reading. What worried him was the increasing Cerberus activity. Apparently they were shipping alot of resources to and from bases, seemingly preparing for something. And from what Miranda's contacts gathered, every Cerberus cell was working overtime on something. What, however, they didn't know. They were in the dark as to the Illusive Man's intentions; but it had something to do with the Reapers.

Marcus smiled at the reports coming from Omega; Aria T'Loak seemed to be benefiting from Archangel's, or should he say, Garrus', operations on the lawless station. Due to Garrus' viglantism, the Blue Suns, Blood Pack and Eclipse were largely decimated, with all three of their CEOs killed in the final assault, leaving them leaderless, allowing Aria's mercs to move in and assume leadership of what was left. Aria was the new CEO of all mercenaries on Omega, giving her hold over an army of her own, which could come in handy when the Reapers arrived. However, the reported increase of Cerberus operations on the station was also something to keep an eye on, even though the Illusive Man's intentions on a station such as Aria's were confusing at best.

The Blue Suns were also, reportedly, not so leaderless now, despite Vido Santiago's death on Zorya at the hands of Zaeed's revenge-filled vehemence. A merc, a human male by the name of Darner Vosque, had apparently taken command and was now rebuilding the Blue Suns operations on Zorya so they could continue production. He passed on this information to Zaeed, wanting to know if the bounty hunter wanted to pay Zorya another visit.

The Hock estate on Bekenstein was completely gone. The Milgrom Fire Department had declared the rubble unsafe to traverse and that the structure could completely collapse at any moment. Casualities were high, although most of them were high-end criminals and Eclipse mercenaries. They never found Hock's body and Jona Sederis, founder and leader of the Eclipse, was reported having been arrested by the Milgrom Police and was awaiting extraditation to the Citadel and into the hands of C-Sec, where she was apparently wanted for the murder of many civilians.

News on Illium wasn't much to look at. Nassana Dantius' death wasn't much of a shock and was largely smeared by the Nos Astra City Council, so she wouldn't be missed too well, although only Marcus, Tali, Garrus and Kaidan knew who she really was; an asari named Aleena who they had fought two years ago. That, and apparently Liara's mission to find the Shadow Broker was getting more intense, as apparently she was getting closer.

The Purgatory had apparently been scrapped as rescue ships arrived to save the prisoners and whatever mercs survived, but they were forced to destroy the prison ship when it was clear it couldn't be salvaged. Nothing the spectre would lose sleep over.

Horizon was slowly recovering from the Collector attack, but to the Alliance's chagrin, noone was willing to even touch Colony Grandeur after the abduction of the colonists there, claiming it would be like grave-robbing. Delan, the mechanic who survived, had set up a memorial to the colonists who died, and had been the one to actively start a smear campaign against Marcus for his destruction of the Collector Base, declaring that he 'murdered his fellow colonists instead of saving them.' He shook his head as he powered down his terminal, unwilling to keep reading. Luckily, the sound of the door to his quarters opening caught his attention.

Normally, only Tali was the one to enter his cabin and occassionally Garrus or Kasumi, so when he turned to face the person who entered, Jack was definitely the last person he expected to see.

He raised a brow at the convict, who seemed to just stand there, looking at him. He grinned as he spoke, "Something you need Jack?"

He couldn't read her face; it was a fix of emotions. Usually Jack only projected one emotion; carelessness. She wasn't very sociable, only ever came out to get food or train with Samara and generally sounded casual when talking about people she killed or, on occassion, flat out murdered. Jack was no perfect person, and she didn't pretend to be. But her emotions right now...he just couldn't read her. But one emotion stood out ontop, and made itself known to both parties.

Before Marcus knew what was going on, Jack had lunged forward, pinned him to the chair with her hands and locked her lips with his. At first, Marcus closed his eyes as he would with Tali and reciprocated the kiss, but didn't move his arms or anything. Jack tasted...funny, compared to Tali. Her puffy lips made it so her lips were bigger than this and seemed to crush them in her grip. Her scent was completely alien to him and her tongue was far too human. It was when Jack moved to straddle him that his eyes shot open and he realized what he was doing.  _What the fuck is wrong with you Marcus!_

He slid his arms inbetween them and shoved her off of him, causing the convict to stumble as she regained her balance, a huge grin on her face as she wiped her mouth. She broke into a fit of laughter as she watched Marcus' shocked expression, the spectre wiping his own mouth.

Jack was still laughing when she responded to Marcus' shove, "You act like you never kissed a woman before. You really are a pussy, boy scout."

He looked at her, still shocked and recovering from what just happened.  _I can't believe I returned that kiss. What the fuck is wrong with you, moron? You're lucky Tali didn't see that. Do I even deserve her after what just happened?_ "What the hell was that Jack?"

The convict shrugged, scoffing, "What the fuck did it look like? I fucking kissed you, get over it. I have to admit Shepard, you look fuckable, and I'm certainly willing. I know you want me, so why don't we just cut the bullshit and-"

"You crossed the line!" Marcus shouted, halting the convict mid sentence, "And I-what? I look... _fuckable? You're willing? I want_ _ **you**_ _?_ Jack, what the hell is up with you? Why are you only now acting on these feelings?"

"Time didn't seem right, that's all," Jack told him, moving forward and noticing how the spectre seemed to move back with every step forward she took, "I waited, and waited, and waited. You want me, I can tell. You always come down to talk to me, to compliment me, to make me feel at hope. I offered sex, you turned me down to talk to me some more. Noone has cared about me in that way before, but I'm certainly willing to make this thing happen. I want to fuck you, but I think I also love you, I don't know, its fucked up. All I know, is I need that cock inside me, right about now."

He looked at her in a mixture of disgust, shame and anger, "So you just waltz in here and kiss me?"

"Why not?" Jack asked, still smiling as she crossed her arms.

He sighed, facepalming, "Jack, did it ever occur to you I might already be in a relationship?"

Jack scoffed, "You mean the quarian? Tali? So-"

"A stable, happy relationship?"

Jack still looked skeptical, "Look Shepard, cut the crap. I know you want me and you're just with her out of a act of pity. I know you-"

His face was full of rage and he stepped forward, finger pointed, " _ **Act of pity?**_ **Is that what she is to me!?** " the rage in his voice even caused Jack to flinch and back off slightly, "Tali means everything to me! This isn't an act of pity; I love her for fuck sake! We've been together since the beginning and we will be together till the end. I love her and only her, and you are a fool to think I'll betray her!"

Jack pouted, crossing her arms once more, but only after holding her hands up in her own defense, "Okay, fuck, calm the hell down, boy scout. Okay, so you don't want to break your relationship with the quarian, I get that," Jack moved forward and Marcus noticed a gleam in her eye.  _What is she-_ before he knew what the hell was going on, she was back infront of him, her eyes inches from his. Her next words were like venom laced on ice.

"So, why don't we share you?" Jack suggested, smiling, "We can both fuck you; at the same time, seperately, whatever you prefer. I don't think I've ever seen a quarian naked before, but I'd be willing if you want to," and before he knew it, he was backed against the wall and Jack was kissing him again, but this time he did not melt into it. This time he resisted, a arm pinned below her throat pushing her back. She tried to lean back in, but his arm wasn't budging. When he responded, his voice was power laced with ice and was as cold as the winds of Noveria.

"No Jack," Marcus told her firmly, "I will not share myself with anyone but  _Tali._ You understand?  _Only Tali._ This is not some sick threesome relationship; this is me and Tali only. Get it?  _Me and Tali._ So do whatever you want Jack,  _ **but I will not fucking share myself with you**_."

But Jack wasn't taking no for an answer and her face creased in fury. Instead of punching him however, he felt cold and realized that Jack's form was now wreathed in the familiar azure light of biotics. Charged with these biotics, she forced herself forward and locked her lips with his again, going to unbuckle his pants.  _She thinks she can rape me? She honestly hasn't been paying attention._

Before she could do anything more, he charged up his own biotics and sent her flying back into the wall opposite him, only just missing the fish tank. Still fully charged, he began to prepare for a further attack from Jack, but only got a muffled grunt followed by...by... _sobbing?_

His azure glow dissipated as the anger melted from his face, the spectre looking down on Jack who, he was damn sure, was sobbing. When the convict looked up, this confirmed his suspicions; tears dripping down her face and cheeks, mascara creating a black inky substance in her tears that made it look like she was crying something evil. Her eyes were full of sorrow, something that was rare for the biotic powerhouse.

He moved to help her up, but she shoved him back with a biotic pulse and stood up, looking at him and spitting in his face, causing him to almost stumble backwards. All he heard from the convict, apart from her choking sobs was her departing words,  _ **"Fuck you!"**_

The doors slammed shut and Marcus wiped the saliva from his face and looked down at the spot where Jack had collapsed to the ground from his biotic push. He cursed himself, feeling ashamed and not ashamed for what he did. He melted into the chair, not knowing what to think.

_I stayed loyal to Tali and pushed Jack away; I love her, and I wasn't just about to have an affair behind her back. But was it right to push Jack away like that? If she really did love me in the way she suggested she did, then I've just wrecked her. What if Tali at the moment was Jack and Jack had been Tali? Imagine how Tali would feel about that kind of rejection. Jesus...what the fuck have I done!?_ _**Was I in the right or the wrong!?** _

And as he looked at his blank terminal screen, he cursed and slammed his fist into the table, the photo of Tali on his desk his only consolation.

He was both.

**"Illium. Where things started to get serious. And we thought we were safe."**

**\- Tali'Shepard pav Rannoch.**

**"A stupid decision, in any situation. Always expect danger."**

**\- Reia'Inas pav Earth.**

**"Yes, Illium was definitely...interesting. And we had really pissed off the wrong people. Or the right people, if given a certain asari's perspective..."**

**\- Marcus Shepard.**

_**A/N:** _

_**The interrogation final sequence hints correctly. Next chapter will be a 2251 chapter, but after that, shit starts to get serious. What, you expected a fanfic full of fluff? I'm sorry, but I think I'd grow bored of doing fluff if I did it for too long. No, Illium is not only where the Normandy gets repairs, its where the shadow war begins. This is where shit gets awesome my friends. You'd better stay tuned.** _

_**You know what, I've looked forward to doing Requiem the most out of all of them. You'll soon see why. So many sub-plots! What ever shall I do to resolve them? Find out in the following chapters of Requiem!** _

_**Now if you don't mind, I've got some Walking Dead to catch up on. Excuse me.** _

_**Keelah Se'lai!** _


	9. The Fire Breather

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Back in the present, Urdnot Mordin and the rachni form a plan to undo Prometheus' plans. Red and Xen become aquainted. Thane and Reby seek refuge while they come up with their own plan.

**REQUIEM**

**CHAPTER EIGHT:**

**THE FIRE BREATHER**

_August 13, 2251_

_1200 hours._

_Rear of Ship, Rachni Cruiser, Entering Orbit over Trebin, Antaeus System, Hades Gamma Cluster._

_Warlord Urdnot Mordin, Corporal Sheila'Piae pav Feros, Jupiter._

The rachni cruiser was eerily quiet; the chitinous sounds of rachni milling about or communicating seemingly absent behind the sound-proof bulkheads of the colossal warship. Much like the design of ancient Collector cruisers, the ship was organic in design and architecture, with organic growths sprouting from the walls and unknown substances holding the lights up and support struts, as well as the bulkheads themselves. It was an efficient design.

The large krogan fiddled with his plasma shotgun and squared his shoulders, sighing as he looked back up to look at the corporal laying on the medical bed provided by the rachni. The quarian female lay there completely still, unmoving in her slumber. She had fallen asleep as soon as they arrived on the cruiser, and had entered a sort of coma. How long it would last, he didn't know. Jupiter stood guard at the door, the geth still capable of just standing there and doing nothing, looking blankly at the wall with the same, piercing stare, watching over Sheila like a bodyguard; the last of his unit.

Sheila had lost a leg in the battle and the rachni workers had done their best to fix her up, but they needed to reach Trebin soon so they could sample her DNA, so they could clone a new leg for her. The Battle on Gellix had been lost; the Dominion listening post overrun, but it still baffled Mordin how the Covenant were able to know where the Dominion was, or that they were even there.

As the cruiser had descended, Mordin had watched from the battlestations as the two space stations in orbit of Gellix had collapsed into the planet's atmosphere in a ball of flame and debris, taking countless hundreds with it into death's grip. Mordin wasn't Dominion anymore however, but he wasn't Covenant either, or Sanctum.  _I'm whatever the rachni need me to be._ He missed his father, who was most likely on Tuchanka unaware that his son was alive, but he had a job to do here, and if he poked his head again, Prometheus would do anything in their power to silence him.  _They tried that on Trebin, Carter tried, but the rachni saved me. He thinks me dead, and I will eventually prove him wrong, but I have to keep my head low for now._

But this entire attack had Prometheus all over it. How else could the Covenant know about the Gellix operation without insider info? Yes, Prometheus must have informed them; maybe someone in the Dominion expedition force was an agent for the Covenant, he didn't know. But what he did know, is that Sheila and Jupiter were the only survivors. Everyone else was dead; killed in the Covenant counterattack.

_The Dominion has the manpower; the Covenant couldn't hope to repel a united assault by the quarian, human, rachni, drell, geth and krogan militaries, especially not in their rogue state. A single assault would allow them to crush any Covenant resistance and push through to Titan, where they can easily finish the job. The Covenant has harassed us for far too long, so why not just attack?_

Once again, it had Prometheus all over it. Those pyjaks were in deep, and he wanted to know what they were up to. Carter had lured Caesar and himself there with the objective of securing Reaper tech, when in retrospect, they were there for a mysterious figure. Once Carter had what he wanted, he betrayed them, killed Caesar and would have killed Mordin if not for the timely arrival of a rachni horde. Carter most likely escaped, along with his captive.  _Who was that mysterious person? Something just didn't seem right about him._

A voice entered his head.  _You do not rest easy, youngling. Your songs are clouded and troubled._

Mordin nodded, responding in thoughts,  _I was betrayed by Prometheus, yet I just saved two Dominion marines when I should have left them for dead. Why?_

The rachni's response was quick and tactful,  _the Dominion sing troubled songs, but Prometheus are dark...treacherous...their songs are colored in lies. Blame not the Dominion youngling, blame those who pull their strings from the shadows._

Mordin nodded, backing up against the wall and inhaling deeply, entering another bored position. He had been like that for most of the trip; three days, to be exact. They could have reached Trebin alot quicker, but the rachni always had to be subtle when travelling between Covenant, Dominion and Sanctum space, careful not to provoke conflict. They had passed by Feros, Sheila's home planet and through the Artemis Tau Cluster, where they finally landed in the Hades Gamma cluster, and Trebin, the new rachni homeworld.

Mordin had always followed the krogan doctrine of being a warrior. His father had encouraged him and his many brothers to do so; and they had done so proudly, knowing their heritage. They were the sons of the great Urdnot Wrex, so why not become warriors and one day become like their father? Their mother, Urdnot Bakara, had encouraged them to do so, and with her blessing and their rites completed, they set off to join the krogan marines. Mordin didn't know if it was a mistake or not.

_If not for Wrex, I might not have learned that Prometheus was yanking us around. Maybe its my duty to make sure the Dominion doesn't stumble into the black hole that Prometheus has set up. Maybe its my duty to make sure Prometheus is destroyed; yes, if that is my duty, then I will start with Carter Dielheart. I will kill that pyjak because my blood demands it for being betrayed by such scum. Then I will find their leader myself and cut her head off and have it hung over the Partheon on Tuchanka._

He sighed as old memories came to mind; when he had joined the krogan marines, Wrex had made sure they got the best training they could get, and since his father's foremost battle-brother was dead, Battlelord Urdnot Grunt trained them, and he was a powerful krogan indeed. Grunt had trained them into the krogan they were now, and if Mordin hadn't already been crippled by Carter, he would have beaten the fleshy human to death on the spot.

 _And maybe Caesar would still be alive; but that's inconsequential. He was just some secretary for the Praetor, anyway. Politician's pet._ The memories died away as the rachni worker entered his mind again.

 _You are needed youngling; her songs sing of the queen's need for your presence. We will be landing soon; be prepared to see her._ Mordin nodded, not even responding as he moved to leave the room, shotgun still firmly placed in his hands. He moved past Jupiter and nodded at the geth, quickly hitting the door interface panel and moving into the ship's corridor, marching down towards the rachni cruiser's airlock.

 _Can't believe I spent so much time trapped on Trebin; but I guess I did have to remain hidden from Prometheus' sight. Besides, the rachni were planning something, I know they were. All those plans, their step up in ship production and how fast they were working to breed as many queens as possible...they're either gearing up for war, or their planning to repel an enemy assault. I don't like where its headed, but if the queen needs me to lead the vanguard, I will do so gladly._ And if they send their fleet to invade Tuchanka?  _They won't. The krogan have not harmed the rachni for decades. It would be foolish and unnecessary._

And if they did?  _Well, he would kill the queen and escape to Tuchanka to warn them; he would never betray his people, his brothers and sisters...his mother and father. Grunt. He would never betray any of them. Only over his dead corpse, and by then I am useless._

He squeezed his way past two brood warriors, and continued making his way towards the airlock. The simplicity of rachni vessel design made it so that reaching certain areas seemed alot faster than it was, and within the space of what felt to be two minutes, he was at the airlock, moving through it and waiting for the ship to land. By the time he reached the airlock, the cruiser was already moving through Trebin's last layer of atmosphere.

In the space of no time, the cruiser had landed and the airlock hissed as air was released and the space outside was equalized within the ship. It opened in an instant and when Mordin stepped outside he was surprised to be...wet. He looked up, and saw that Trebin's skies were pitch black and water poured down on him in thick sheets. Trebin, a world occupied by sandstorms, was raining.  _Atmospheric alteration? Is that even possible? Were the Reapers even capable of such feats, or is this our own technology at work?_

Mordin looked back down and continued out of the cruiser, marvelling at the sheer size of the rachni capital city, or rather, the rachni main nest. It was huge massive; a wreathing mass of eggs and organic structure reaching out of Trebin's sand covered plains and seemingly reaching for the heavens in large, thick spires. Rachni workers, soldiers, brood warriors and drones moved about en masse in swarms, crawling across the ground and walls like locusts. There was only one queen for every nest, and there were most likely hundreds of nests built around the planet already, the rachni fleet growing every day.

He approached the main nest was ease, still wondering at the rain. The rachni, again, who had somehow snuck up behind him, spoke into his mind once more.  _The rachni have altered this planet's atmosphere and whether conditions to suit our needs. Our songs need place to breathe and thrive; not a sand-covered ecology. In this way, we have made Trebin into a perfect world for rachni to live on._

Mordin scoffed,  _you altered the atmosphere? How? Is that Reaper technology?_

The rachni seemed to scoff itself in response,  _the songless machines of death and destruction did not have use of such technology; and therefore never needed it. Maybe their creators possessed such technology; nothing is certain. But the songless machines did not possess this technology, no. This is a rachni creation. A machine to shape environments to our needs. To wipe out jungles, to stop sandstorms, to cause rain, to rise the sea level, whatever rachni need._

Mordin laughed as he moved through a swarm of the rachni workers, careful not to step on any of them as he travelled to the heart of the nest, where the queen was most likely waiting.  _A weapon like that is deadlier than any weapon the Dominion or the Reapers possessed. A 'weapon of mass destruction,' the humans call it._

_This is not a weapon; rachni did not build it to wage war. Rachni use it to alter planetary biospheres and ecology to suit rachni's needs. However, use as weapon would be devastating. Could be used to cause sporadic tidal waves, earthquakes, even magma build up. If used to maximum potential, could even damage planetary core. Uncertain. Untested. We do not find why a humor song would be needed for this, however. Humor was never intended._

Mordin shrugged, deciding to ignore the rachni. But it was scary that the rachni suddenly had a device to control the weather and any other planetary features. If the rachni decided it could be used as a weapon, then the Dominion would have to destroy them before they could use such a weapon on Earth, Rannoch, Kahje or, dare Mordin think it, Tuchanka itself.  _I won't allow that to happen._

The descent into the nest was wrought with noise, but only silence in the krogan's head, Mordin disappearing into his own thoughts. He thought of Tuchanka, his brothers and sisters, his parents...and of Grunt, the instructor he grew up with and heralded like some kind of role model. He had grown up reading about 'The Shepard' and his accomplishments, and how much he had changed in the galaxy. Shepard's name meant 'hero' in kroga, and for good reason. The Urdnot Shaman and his father used to tell him stories about how the Shepard himself, or as Wrex called him, 'Marcus', cured the genophage and saved the krogan from extinction. How he gave the quarians back Rannoch, and made them friends with the geth. So many feats, and yet the man was dead. A pity; he might have known how to defeat Prometheus.

He finally reached a cylinder like corridor that lead through the heart of the nest and into the queen's central chamber. It was just big enough to fit the queen, and not any bigger, and the queen herself was as big, if not bigger, than a corvette, and she wasn't even fully grown yet. She was surrounded by brood warriors, her praetorian guard of sorts, and her many eyes locked onto Mordin's form within an instant, beckoning him forward with a harsh screech, her song reaching his ears and penetrating his brain.  _Come forth. Plans have been made. Our song will reach across the stars, and your song will be the opening crescendo._

Mordin nodded and marched forward, stopping fifteen meters from the colossus of a rachni, kneeling on the ground and head bowed. Instead of speaking through thoughts, he spoke openingly, "I have brought the survivors of the Gellix assault. A quarian female and a geth platform. What will be done with them?"

The queen's response was sweet but high-pitched,  _They must be returned to Dominion space where their songs can continue to fight the songs of those who wish to burn theirs out; a battle of music that rachni shall not intervene. I sense that the song of the wanderer is sad, broken and pained; her song has been turned bitter, the loss of a limb troubling. We shall clone a new leg for her body, but once that is done, they must leave._

"Very well," Mordin replied immediately, dropping his shotgun on the ground as he asked his next priority question, "And what of these plans you speak of? Do these plans involve war? I saw your fleet; it grows bigger everyday, as does the rachni horde. You don't build numbers like that to populate a world, surely."

_Your song depicts correctly, youngling. We are amassing for war, but not on the side of the Dominion, but on the side of the saviour. His song has ended, but we shall continue ours in sync to his to continue his legacy. He shall not be forgotten. No rachni have forgotten him or will ever forget him. His song allowed us to continue; his forgiveness allowed us to amend. To atone._

Mordin frowned.  _Saviour?_ "You mean The Shepard?"

_Your people have unusual names, but we recognize this one. The Shepard, as you name his song, saved us. He is the saviour of all things. We owe our existence to his persistence. His song ended to end those of the songless machines, those of the empty songs and those of the cold songs. It is because of his forgiveness that we exist today._

Mordin snorted,  _it seems that everywhere this Shepard went, he was helping somebody. Quarians, Geth, Krogan, Rachni, Drell...He is worthy of his many titles. Hero of the Citadel, Slayer of Heretics, Beater of Saren Arterius, Destroyer of the Collectors, Bane of the Reapers, Benefactor of the Migrant Fleet, Protector of Synthetics, Saviour of the Galaxy, Humanity's Champion, Exterminator of the Genophage, The Forge of Alliances._ The titles go on and on and on.  _And now Forgiver of the Rachni._

He sighed, looking back up to face the rachni, "So who am I leading these rachni to fight against?"

_The primals. The ones who mistreat their own world and breed faster than even a single rachni queen could. Their lifespans are short, their lives wasted on murder, deceit and being killed. Their songs are considered an annoyance, themselves vermin. Nothing but a species to be swept aside and ignored. Yet they help those that would wish the Dominion destroyed._

Mordin looked at the queen and smiled, "The Covenant. You want to go to war with the Covenant."

_No, we have already made it clear that we will not participate in the war of songs. No, we want to target a specific member of the Covenant. A race noone will notice disappear, or change allegiances._

"Who?" Mordin asked, "The batarians?"

_The primals, not the slavers._

"Tilthans?"

_They are known as the digitals._

"...yahg?"

_They are brutes._

"Then who...?" Mordin wondered, suddenly hitting a realization.  _It can't be serious. It mentioned allegiance; meaning alliance. Oh no..._

He gulped, "You can't mean the...the vorcha?"

_The primals. They will serve us; they are simple, we can use that._

Mordin rolled his eyes, standing up, "They are vermin for good reason. I even heard that The Shepard himself didn't see much use in them except cannon fodder."

_The Saviour was not perfect, and neither are the primals. But if used correctly, they can make a valuable ally, especially from inside the Covenant's territory. Their homeworld is the closest to their main nest._

"Titan?" Mordin guffawed, "You want the vorcha to attack  _Titan?_ I don't doubt you could convince them, they're a simple race, but you really think they'll have the manpower to attack the Covenant capital and survive? And you can't say you'll bolster them with rachni forces, that would be intervening."

_We never said the primals would succeed in taking the head nest; only to cause discension in their song. To distract them. That, and the Covenant will cut off the primal song, destroy it, which would severely weaken their forces. In this, our song will not only have helped in weakening the structure of the Covenant, but will have removed one of its useless, but potentially powerful allies._

The krogan chuckled, looking at the rachni with dark eyes, "That's intervening queen."

If the rachni could chuckle, it would,  _we should have made it clearer; the rachni will not_ _ **directly**_ _intervening, but that does not mean we won't secrely aid from behind...the scenes?_

The krogan sighed with a smile, "Behind the scenes indeed."

Well, it looked like Urdnot Mordin was going to Ughan, the vorcha homeworld.

**{Loading...}**

_August 13, 2251_

_1755 hours._

_Rampart Hotel Suites Room 02, Tuhi District, Sanctum Civilian Zone, Alpha._

_Viglante Samara, Head Scientist Daro'Xen pav Rannoch._

The asari lay there, body stretched out amongst the covers of the bed, but not under them, nor using them. Her uniform was neatly packed away, the asari wearing nothing but a pair of underwear, the rest of her body exposed to the world. Her skin was wrought with goosebumps from the cold air, fans operating to purify the room of all warmth. The asari's blue body simply lay there, seemingly emotionless eyes gazing up at the ceiling without purpose, without need, without emotion.  _While in this state, I am a machine._

Her apartment was largely basic, but wasn't as dirty or unkept as it would have been under Aria T'Loak's rule, or under the title of Omega. Alpha was the heart of Sanctum politics, and as such, looked the part. What once had been dirty streets full of the homeless or the criminally injust, what had once been skyscrapers spewing out toxic smoke, what had once been a dark station full of crime, was now peaceful and most of all, civilized.

Sanctum looked almost like what old asari colonies would look like; an artificial sun occupying the upper reaches of the station, operating on a day and night cycle similiar to that on the raloi homeworld, Turvess. The streets had less criminals, and more law enforcement. Skycrapers were majestic, proud and tall, not melted bricks. The place didn't look like hell, it looked more akin to a more realistic form of heaven. Sanctum was beautiful, a massive contrast compared to its original form. Sanctum, in some respects, might have been the modern Citadel, with its own Council and sense of galactic peace. If only the Dominion and the Covenant would stop fighting...

_What's done is done. Nothing can change that._

A sigh next to him, old and haggard. Red Star was suddenly brought back to reality, and made aware of her current prisoner.

"I don't know if you're trying to get me aroused or if you walk around with your balloons hanging out daily, but honestly, put a top on," Daro commented snarkily, the old woman not losing any of her charm, "Don't get me wrong, you are a prime example of asari feminity, and I'm sure any man would enjoy you. But I don't need to see you walking around like a whore who has lost her way. It makes me uncomfortable."

Samara sighed, not even turning to look at the quarian, "Your comfort does not concern me, Xen, only your crimes."

"Oh, of which I've committed many, I'm sure," the scientist replied, a grin gracing her features, "I do believe I lost count though; you might have to remind me."

"Too many to count," the asari simply replied, voice hostile, "Now, do me the pleasure of shutting your mouth."

Xen whistled, "You've changed alot, Samara. I remember you when you were a badass, and when you could kill people with a single flick of your wrist. I also remember when you were Miss Humble and Justified. Now you're...well, weak, feeble and a tad too sensitive. What happened to the old Samara? What changed?"

Samara didn't reply for a couple of seconds and after awhile, the asari replied, barely above a mumble, "The war happened. The old Samara died when Thessia died and she is long buried. I am not a justicar anymore, I never will be again. I am Red Star; nothing more, nothing less. Now quiet yourself."

"Sure, fine," Daro wriggled in her restraints, "It would help if I had a geth to experiment on..."

"Silence," Samara hushed, but the quarian had just one more question.

"Why am I even here?" Daro asked, skirting dangerously close over the line, "If you wanted me dead, I'd be rotting in some Alpha alley somewhere. You have me as a prisoner for...I've lost count of how many days. Why? Why am I not dead?"

Red sighed and finally turned to face Xen, face contorted in an expression of anger and resignation, "You are here because I was instructed to bring you here. You are part of an ongoing investigation into Promethean activities, and their relations to the Dominion, Covenant and Sanctum. My partner will be arriving soon."

"Partner?" Daro asked, raising an eyebrow, "What partner? You never mentioned you had a partner."

Red smiled, "Because I don't discuss my plans with my prisoners. They'll escape and, knowing my plans, do their best to avoid me. I am not stupid."

"For an asari, I guess not," Daro jested, turning back to the wall, her arms tied infront of her by omni-cuffs, her legs the same. Her medical implants had been removed by one of Sanctum State Hospital's doctors on Red's clientele, reducing Xen to the old woman she was. If she tried to run, she had no implants to save her, and would most likely just break a leg trying to flee. Instead, Xen had just resigned herself to her fate, not wanting to bother trying to change things and sprint for it. Red might be forced to kill her, then.

Red turned back to the ceiling, delving into the thoughts Xen had reawakened subconsciously. She felt hidden emotions build back up; she remembered the final days of the Asari Republics during the early stages of the Post-Apocalyptic War. She remembered the burning of Selvos, the occupation of Tevura, the fall of Lymetis. She remembered the Promethean assault on Lesuss, and...and...

Hot tears brimmed in her eyes as she remembered the most painful memories of all; the fall of Thessia itself. She had been there, watching the beautiful skyscrapers of Armali disappear as her evac shuttle took off to leave with the remnants of the once proud asari navy. And then Samara had watched as the bombs had dropped, and Thessia lit up in brilliant light and color, the weapons of mass destruction reducing her homeworld to an uninhabitable, smoking ruin. The asari might have ended up like the Migrant Fleet, but they had found refuge on Omega, and turned it into their new homeworld, renaming it Alpha.

The memories dissipated and Red wiped the tears from her eyes, uncaring whether or not Xen saw her. Those memories were ones thought to be long buried, decades of melancholy extinguished. It was true; Alpha was all the asari had left, all their other worlds gone; either converted into Dominion colonies or reduced to smoking ruin.

Alpha, in its own way, was a haven for species that had nothing left. The asari homeworld was a smoking, radioactive ruin that wouldn't be able to support life for hundreds of thousands of years, Palaven was a DMZ, largely unoccupied by any species. Sur'Kesh was abandoned, although a few Dominion outposts lay in wait for any salarians daring enough to try and retake their homeworld. Khar'Shan still hadn't recovered from the Reaper War by the time the batarians were kicked out.

Alot of homeworlds were empty now, their peoples gone to live on a space station that had once inhibited all that was wrong with the galaxy. Omega had once been under the rule of Aria T'Loak, but when the asari saw what the Dominion had done to her people and their homeworld, she had opened her gates and let them onboard. She was surprised at the amount of turians and salarians flooding through as well.

However, eventually Aria got greedy and decided to impose martial law, to which the remnants of the Republics and the Hierarchy weren't willing to agree with. Eventually, when Aria became too stubborn and arrogant, her daughter, Sata T'Loak, to everyone's surprise, rose up and killed her mother, taking control and beginning a new realm of leadership, which was eventually called the New Council, and so the Sanctum was born, and Omega transformed and industrialized into Alpha.

Sata remained in power of course, but the New Council; made up of Councilor Bigal Ltors of the Drell, Splantis of the Hanar, Padok Wiks of the Salarians, Sata T'Loak of the Asari, and Krai Kol Kai of the Raloi. All five of them in their Council building, the Spire of Alpha, all looking after Alpha, all maintaining the Sanctum, the haven. The only truly peaceful place in the galaxy. All races were welcome, even Dominion races, as long as they didn't bring war with them. However, it was common knowledge that Sata ruled Alpha, and only Sata. Her morals were different, but her ambition was her mother's.

 _Her mother...I was sworn to kill people like her once..._ Maybe Red, given the chance, would have killed Aria, but she had been traumatized then, her code forgotten, and she had so willingly accepted Aria's help, and when the time came to kill her, she was still too emotionally distraught to carry it out.  _So her own daughter did it instead._ She also thought of her friends, the people she had fought alongside, alot of them now technically her enemies.  _Word says that it was Tali'Shepard herself, sitting on the bridge of her flagship, the CSV Revengeance, looking down on Thessia, who gave the order to destroy the world from which my people drew breath._

But it was a lie, it had to be. She had known Tali, and she would never have given such an order.  _Of course, I thought I had known her. At that point, she was still wrecked by Shepard's death, and would not have been herself; it was said she fought the Covenant Prophet, Si Pel, with nothing but her boot knife and a malfunctioning omni-tool. She screamed 'Marcus! Marcus! Marcus!' as she furiously ripped the batarian apart, and when she stood up, swimming in the batarian's blood, she had looked up, her eyes full with hate, rage, and most frightening of all, a bottomless pit of fire._

But they were just rumors. She wondered how age faired the quarian, knowing that with their lifespans, she would be reaching death by now. And all the others...oh yes, she had been out of contact with them for quite some time. But they were Samara's friends, not Red's. Justicar Samara had died at the gates of Omega, and Red Star had been born upon the birth of democratic Omega.

Silence followed as Red returned from her memories, staring aimlessly at the roof, as she had been doing for the past few days. It was all she had to occupy the time, all she could do. Daro was not pleasant company, and all she liked to do was complain, mock or tease, all to the quarian's detriment. She had asked many questions, all of which had met a stone wall of carelessness, until now.  _Maybe I'm losing my edge. I am Red Star, but I still contain that same calm I had as Samara. But why do I feel the need to reach out and choke that woman to death?_

Xen was hardly friendly, after all.  _She's a smart woman; she seeks to enrage me, get me to act rash, do something stupid...like accidentally free her. She's a cunning and manipulative woman, a girl in comparison to me, yet so old compared to her own people. I used to think living for a century sucked, and then I endured centuries of my own life, and discovered it wasn't much better; only my misery was extended tenfold..._

Red couldn't believe it; she had endured four, close to five, hundred years of hunting criminals and righting wrongs, and to kill her own daughter, Morinth.  _My daughters are dead; all three of them. One the Reapers took away, another Prometheus, and one I took away myself._ She had never seen Falere's face, but she knew, that as soon as she tried to enter the blazing rebuilt monastery, that her last daughter was dead; burnt alive by the incendiary bombs.

_They saw the Reaper War was the greatest conflict in galactic history...and they say the Terra-Rannochian War involves the most losses. But was an entire homeworld rendered inhabitable in any of those conflicts? Did many lose their homeworlds permanently? Did the Reapers conquer half the galaxy, and work to wipe out the rest..._

The answer was no, but it felt hollow to be right.  _The war is done, and the deeds complete. Now the galaxy reaps what it sowed, and slowly rips itself apart..._

The Milky Way Galaxy was billions of years old.

But it wouldn't reach past 2300 AD.

_2251\. By the goddess, its been that long since the Reapers were defeated? Seventy years...and we are all so old...Tali would be...ninety-six? Yes, that sounds about right. And Garrus...Kasumi...all of them, dying, withering, and I still have a couple, or a few, centuries left. Goddess, I've lost count. I don't even know my own age anymore._

She stopped counting at 762.

A knock at the door interrupted her thoughts, and she silently thanked the perpetrator.

Red shot up from her position on the bed, and remembered she was naked. She told the person to wait and silently got dressed, not making a sound, painfully aware of Daro's eyes on her form.  _Let her watch. She cannot hurt me; she is a feeble old woman who has been removed of her only source of strength. Her words are her only weapons._ She fitted on her uniform, tightened it, thinned out any creases and made sure the bodice was tied before approaching the door and looking through the peephole.

It wasn't Miranda, or anyone of her agents.

 _I know Miranda's agents; how they stand, how they react, how they think. And I think I know the looks of the woman I fought beside. Something isn't right about this._ This person was all wrong; the stance was impatient, nervous and overall too eager. He was a human male, not very well built and had a single SMG strapped to their hip, along with a line of flashbangs. He wore no armor, and she couldn't see an insignia of any kind.  _No insignia equals Prometheus; only they know true subtlety. If they know I have Daro, then Siren won't be too far behind..._

She shuddered at the thought and quickly composed herself, putting on her best fake smile and hitting the holo interface, watching the door open with ease. The man looked at her, and put on his own, unconvincing grin.  _Intentions unknown; could be hostile, can take down if necessary. No signs of implant, might not be a biotic. Muscle density is light, not very strong. SMG secured in holster, would take too long to equip, and he knows I'm asari. Flashbangs would take even longer to prime and lob. Wears no armor; not prepared for battle of attrition or reinforcements._

"Hello," the man replied, "Is this the apart of Falere P'Fi?"

"That it is," Red replied, "And you are?"

The man nodded, overly confident, "Sanctum Federal Police; I've come to ask you a few questions on a federal matter, ma'am. We believe you might be involved in an elaborate exchange with Dominion authorities, and the Council just want to make sure nothing is being compromised. A matter of station security, you must understand."

"Of course officer," Red replied, smile broadening, motioning inside.  _Definitely not Prometheus: would not be so careless in disguise. Federal Police don't ask question, they ransack with extreme prejudice. FP also wear uniform and do not carry flashbangs around so casually. Impatient stance also distinguishes him from a trained officer to a mere rookie, and FP do not recruit rookies._

The man walked inside, and as soon as the door closed, Red turned to him, making sure it was locked.  _Assume hostility._ She pulsed with biotics, noticing the man's sudden reaction to Daro in cuffs.  _Recognizes his objective._ As she reached forward, she noticed him spinning, hand going for his SMG.  _Suspicions confirmed; disable and interrogate hostile. Not Prometheus, Not Red Sky, Not Federal Police. Identify and disignate potential threat._ Just as the man completed his whirl round, his hand on the handle, he flew threw the air, hitting the wall and landing on the bed, buttocks first.

With another flick of her wrist, the SMG went flying from his hands to clatter against the wall, only just out of Daro's reach. The quarian looked dejected, but quickly gained a smirk as she watched the man recover, but Red quickly turned back to him. She hovered through the air and landed infront of him, straddling him so he couldn't get his flashbangs and quickly put him in a stasis field, allowing her to cuff his hands to the back of the bed.

The field disappeared just as she stepped off the bed and turned to face him, smile gone and replaced with cold malice and calm only a predator hunting prey could perform.  _He is the prey, now be the predator. Interrogate. Disignate threat._

Daro spoke up, breaking the silence as the man slowly and lethargically opened his eyes, energy drained by the effects of the biotic stasis, "Ah, Gerold baby, you came to rescue. A pity you botched that," noticing Red's raised eyebrow, Daro chuckled, looking at her with a wide grin, "He's my...assistant of sorts, you don't need the details, do you? You're a smart woman; you figure it out."

...Red was disgusted.  _A woman of her age..._

Gerold spoke up, voice low and dejected, "Yeah, you're welcome. Try not to be captured by a kickass asari next time; I might be able to succeed."

Daro sighed, "You were always hopeless outside the bed."

Red smiled inwardly,  _ironic, given the situation._ Gerold, still cuffed to the bed, looked at Red, eyes narrowed, "So now what? Yeah, you know who I am, so why not kill me?"

"Who do you work for?" Red demanded.

Gerold looked at her with feigned confusion, "Work for? I don't want-"

A biotic field appeared around his throat, tightening, causing him to be cut off. Red's eyes were ice cold, "Who. Do. You. Work. For. Do not make me ask again."

"Someone who wants Daro alive. That's all I'm-"

The field tightened. His face reddened and his hands grasped his throat, unable to catch hold of his interrogator's phantom choking hands.

"...a friend of Prometheus! A very good friend, would earn alot to have you d-"

The field once again tightened, the man fighting for every breath.

"-mercenary-grou-p. They'r-e-called-the-the-"

"The what?"

"The-The-The-Grim-Skulls-"

"Who leads them?"

"How should I-"

 **"Who?"** Red almost growled.

"Some bitch named Morinth alright!" Gerold yelled out, gasping for breath, face lighting up as soon as he was rewarded, Red letting go as a flood of emotions; anger, rage and sadness, coupled with horrible memories of death, abomination and doctors droning entered her mind. She looked at them both, and then at the ground. And as she looked up, Samara was back, Red pushed to the back of her mind as she became what she needed to be again. Samara was back, for now, and not for long.

Samara's first words, for a long time were, "It cannot be possible."

**{Loading...}**

_August 13, 2251_

_1538 hours._

_Triard, Williams State Hospital, Williams, Virmire._

_Lance Corporal Thane'Shepard pav Rannoch, Ashley'Raan pav Rannoch._

Thane's world opened up in an explosion of blurry imagery. He couldn't see a thing as his head turned back and forth, trying to gain some kind of coherent sight. His vision remained blurred, his eyes itching like he had just woken up from a long slumber. The pain in his arm returned, flaring up like biotics, and it filled him with fire.

He couldn't make out his surroundings apart from a few bits of grey and the muffled sounds of someone moving about nearby. His skin felt exposed, and he felt something, like the rays of a sun, blaring down on it, warming him up. His back lay against something soft and comfortable, but that felt wrong, and he tried to remember what had happened.

 _Iwojima. Destroyed. Adrift. Nemata. Reby. Unconscious. Lack of oxygen. Suit-link._ The memories returned to him in an instant; Reby's life source leaking out of her suit as he plugged her into his, sharing his life with hers.  _I linked suits with her._ Heat rushed to his cheeks and he tried to sit up, only for someone to bark in his ear, words unintelligble, a warm hand pressing against his chest and stopping him from fully sitting up, still barking.

As if the sudden movement had suddenly cured his sight, his vision cleared and he was able to see clearly. He was in a small, contained, hospital room, grey walls encompassing all sides. To his left was an observation window, not only allowing a view of the city of Williams below, but the blaring sun of Hoc blaring down on Virmire. The Williams Hospital was ontop of a hill, so the building practically looked down on the other half of the massive metropolis.

He turned looked down to see his hardsuit had been removed, the human-quarian hybrid wearing a simple hospital gown and a tag on his wrist, his legs exposed to the world, skin the natural quarian purple. His face was exposed too and he would have panicked, but he knew he was safe, a planet full of oxygen...and as he turned further to his right, he saw a familiar face holding him down, wearing a hospital uniform, hair tied up in a bun, eyes caring and reassuring. His sister.

"Lie down Thane!" Her barking turned into distinquishable words, "You're not ready! I know you're confused, but I can explain!"

He complied, lying back down on the hospital, realizing he was plugged into multiple life support machines and other pieces of medical equipment. He sighed, looking back up at Ashley, who looked concerned, but quickly wiped it away with a fake smile and began to play with her datapad.  _All those days in Drama class made you a good actor Ash._ "Thank you Thane," she finally spoke up, turning away from her datapad to look at him, "Please remain calm; you've been through alot of trauma and your body needs time to recover."

"What's..." his voice was croaky, hoarse, and it  _hurt_ , "What's the damage?" He reiterated, looking down at the omni-cast that was set around his arm; a massive bulb of orange energy encompassing his broken arm, keeping it in a 'stasis' while the medically crafted omni-gel fixed and healed his bones. In times like these, getting a broken arm wasn't as horrible as it once was; now it was like getting stitches or placing a band-aid on a cut.

Ashley sighed, that same fake smile still pasted on her lips as she looked back at her datapad and read off the details, "You've got a broken arm, a broken toe, strained wrist and almost snapped your neck. If not for your hardsuit, you'd be dead and your head twisted the wrong way," Ashley dictated, looking back at him, "That's about it."

Then more memories came back; Thane pushing the embarassment away with worry, as his eyes once again met hers, "And...Reby?"

Ashley immediately lost her smile and sighed, not even bothering to look at her data, "When the patrol ship found you, you two were in bad shape. You had fallen asleep, and Reby had been unconscious for up to six hours, both of you sharing oxygen. You most likely saved her life, but before hand, she had a nasty concussion to the back of her skull and a tiny crack appeared, but we were able to seal it," she inhaled and exhaled, continuing on, "We had to seperate you two and place her in a different cell; her wounds were much more...fatal. Her lungs could have failed if not for you, but they were still suffering from oxygen depravation, that coupled with her concussion, a crack in her skull, a broken wrist and ankle, and a black eye, she was in bad shape. We've put her in a medically induced coma, and it does look like she'll make it, we just need time to let the omni-gel heal her bones and for her body to repair itself."

Thane looked mortified and turned away, looking directly at the door.  _Why am I so scared? I saved her. I saved Reby. She's going to be okay; would you ever call Ash a liar? No, so why are you so worried?_ The next thought haunted him.  _Because you want more than friendship with her._ He growled, shaking the thoughts from his head.  _I don't love her; we're best friends. Or are we? I mean, I have found myself admiring her more than once, and I've caught more than one stolen glance from her, but she's always hidden it well. And mum did say we'd be a perfect couple...no! Don't complicate things! Why ruin a good friendship by getting greedy? No, she deserves better anyway. She deserves a quarian or a human, not an abomination like me. Not the hybrid._

He felt disgusted in his thoughts.  _You are not a hybrid; you are the blood of The Shepard and Tali'Shepard pav Rannoch. You are the blood of those who destroyed the nightmares of a galaxy and saved it from determined extinction. You are no hybrid, you are the son of a hero. A god._

Maybe god was a little bit too far. But he knew what he was, and maybe he did or didn't deserve Reby, but he knew for a certainty that she didn't deserve him.  _She deserves a whole lot better; she's always treated me right and looked after me, I won't repay her friendship and kindness by getting impatient and greedy. No, we're friends. Nothing more._

"Thane?" He suddenly remembered Ashley's presence and she looked at him, worry in her eyes. He looked back at her, letting a small smile that didn't quite meet his eyes crease along his lips.

"I'm fine Ash, really," he told her reassuringly, holding out his other hand for Ashley to take and smile.

"Just looking out for my bro," Ashley told him, giggling, "I requested that I be the one to tend to you, you know. Boss didn't like it, but I gave him the typical Shepard response."

Thane chuckled, "We Shepards get away with alot of things, don't we?"

"That we do," Ashley responded, but within a moment, the grin was gone, and her voice shook as she asked, "Thane...who attacked you? You left on an interceptor and were found on a destroyed frigate? What happened?"

Thane sighed, looking up at her, "I can't say much, they might be recording everything we say, but I'll just say that people want me and Reby dead. I don't know why, but they tried it and failed. We boarded their ship, took it, but then they got reinforcements and sacrificed their own ship to try and kill us. They really want us dead; and if they somehow find out we're alive, they might try again."

Ashley widened her eyes in fear, "Thane, are you telling me you're in danger? Why don't you tell someone? Tell Uncle Garrus, or Aunt Kasumi, hell, go to Tuchanka and ask Uncle Wrex for help! Anyone; noone will try to hurt you if they know who your family is!"

"That's just it Ash," Thane interrupted her, resolve entering his tone, "I think they attacked us  _because_ of who our family is. They want us dead because I'm a Shepard and Reby's a Reegar, and we're practically brother and sister in that way. Hell Ash, if they know you work here, you won't be safe either."

Ash shook her head, turning away, too frightened to answer. Finally, she turned back, tears in her eyes, "If you're in danger Thane...what about mum?"

He cursed under his breath, "Legion and Moses will keep her safe; Moses guards her like a mother guards a son. Legion is Legion. Besides, she has geth watching her house day and night, keeping her safe. Noone will dare attack her."

"And Kaidan? And Penya?" Ashley asked, almost sobbing, flaying her arms around like a madwoman, "One's in prison and the other is on some battlefield somewhere! Are they in danger too!? What if they find an excuse to execute Kaidan and cause some friendly fire for Penya? What then? Our entire family is in danger!"

"I know that!" Thane shouted, "I know...ancestors I know...and I'm just as scared as you are, but there's nothing we can do for now."

Ashley sighed, falling into a work chair behind her and looking blankly out the windows, "Things would be different if dad were still alive. He'd protect us. He'd kick their asses, just like he did Saren, Sovereign, Harbinger, Vanguard, Oblivion and the rest of the Reapers."

Thane exhaled, looking down at the bed. He really missed dad, "You're damn right he would've. But he's not; he's dead, but we're not. We have to fight to protect ourselves. Mum is safe, and you're surrounded by a hospital and a protective husband on good terms with the Williams Police Department, so they won't dare send an agent to kill you. I'm going to try and find Kaidan and Penya, try and get them to safety. You know...me and Reby, these people...we're fugitives now."

Ashley looked at him with wide eyes, "You got in trouble with the authorities!?"

 _Let them record me. Let them know I'm alive,_ "Prometheus, Ash. Prometheus attacked us."

His sister's eyes only widened further, "Prometheus...wants you dead..." she zoned out, unsure of what to make of his accusation. Then she turned to him, eyes blank of emotion, "...what are you going to do?"

Thane gave her a weary smile, "Protect Reby and do whatever I can to make sure Prometheus pays for every drop of blood they spill. They will not gain easy conquest over us. None of us. I'll find Kaidan, keep him safe and then I'll rescue Penya. We have to stick together, or they'll kill us. You're safe; keep your husband close, and the police closer. You'll be safer that way."

Ashley looked at him, shaking her head, "But you'll be in danger. You're not a fire breather, Thane. You can't just burn Prometheus to the ground."

Thane just smiled, "Oh, I can, and I will. I won't just be a Shepard, Ash..."

"...I'm going to become  _the_ fire breather."

_**A/N:** _

_**Now back to 2185, where shit gets real...** _


	10. Like Old Times

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Liara runs into trouble as she closes in on her nemesis. As Shepard and the crew come to her aid, the Broker makes use of his own asset: an asari spectre.

**REQUIEM**

**CHAPTER NINE:**

**LIKE OLD TIMES**

_October 18, 2185_

_1200 hours._

_VICINITY UNKNOWN. DATA INCOMPLETE. LOCATION UNKNOWN._

_The Shadow Broker._

The room was absolutely silent; it always had been, as noone was allowed to enter it, or leave it alive. It was long, big and had all the equipment that the ultimate information broker could possibly need. Every man, woman and child's dirtiest secret, information that could start wars in mere minutes, intel that could bring down the mightiest of politicians, including ones like the Council itself. Even ones that could bring down whole governments. All at the Broker's fingertips.

But at that current moment, the Broker wasn't looking for information like that; it was its own that he needed  _destroyed._ The asari named Liara T'Soni was moving in on the Broker, and if it didn't find a way to stop her soon, its base of operations would be compromised and the entire Shadow Broker network brought down. It would not let that happen. The Shadow Broker was a necessary evil in the galaxy, and needed if they were to survive what it knew was coming...

_The Reapers._

As so, the Shadow Broker worked silently through its terminal, watching information on its asari nemesis crawl past the screen, its top agent sending instant reports on T'Soni's movements straight to the Broker's computer.

It wasn't the real Broker;  _he_ had learnt to accept that. He had taken over sixty years ago, having killed his previous owner, who had taken him from his homeworld as a pet. He had taken over, but then the quarian had arrived, and it began again; he was the pet, the one who did all the Broker's work for her.  _I'm a pet; but she doesn't bother to monitor the orders I send out._

He stopped mid-thought, eyes locked on one and particularly terrifying line of data.  _T'Soni knows. I don't know how she did it, but she managed to track down one of our agents, and linked it back to Sekat. She knows about him, and I have a feeling Sekat is going to compromise you. I overheard her plans as well; Shepard is on his way to Illium, and when he arrives, she's going to tell him. I need orders; neatralize? - Vasir._

He clicked his mandibles before hitting the key for the connection to the Shadow Broker's office, which was just behind his, and found an instant connection as the quarian's face mask popped up, "Yes, what is it?"

His voice was a low growl, as it seemed to always sound, as he spoke, "T'Soni knows. She's making a move, and Agent Vasir is waiting for orders on the target. She needs to be stopped before she tells Shepard."

The quarian seemed to hesitate, eyes glazing over.  _Shepard...that name fazes her._ The quarian leaned forward, thinking, before she clasped her three-fingered hands in front of her and met her pet's gaze, "Tell Vasir to neatralize target, but do not terminate. T'Soni is not to be harmed. Have her captured and brought here, where she can join her friend, Feron.  _This time however_ , do not put her in a torture machine."

The pet slammed his fist down on the desk, leaving a massive dent and causing the desk to splinter and creak, "You cannot be serious! T'Soni needs to be permanently silenced, not brought here! Did you ever consider that  _she might want to be brought here?_ The asari needs to be terminated, not left alive for where she can do more damage."

"Are you questioning my orders?" the Broker questioned and her pet growled, glaring at her and seeing past her mask, wanting to just crush her face with his hand; and he probably could. But he held his breath, not bothering to question her. His silence being her answer, the quarian nodded, "Good. Now precede with my orders; capture T'Soni. Shadow Broker out."

He slammed the disconnection key and brought up Vasir's message, not knowing what to do.  _Orders are clear; capture the asari._ But the orders seemed so idiotic, so risky. What if T'Soni killed Vasir and got the location of the base off of her? Vasir was powerful and well-trained, but this was one of the Heroes of the Citadel, not to mention the Broker's biggest rival in the business. Steps had to be taken to keep the asari...silent.

 _Like insubordination._ The man nodded, seemingly watching the Broker's office out of the corner of his eye as he turned back to his terminal.  _She hasn't placed any bugs on my terminal; she won't know._ And with that, the pet made up his mind, sending the orders that Vasir waited for.

_Eliminate T'Soni._

**{Loading...}**

_October 18, 2185_

_1208 hours._

_Roof, Tevos Tower, Nos Astra, Illium._

_Spectre Tela Vasir._

The asari smiled as her omni-tool beeped once more, the orange display lighting up on her arm as she turned from her Indra sniper rifle to examine the reply sent by the Shadow Broker. When she saw that one line, her grin faded, replaced by sheer determination and she turned back to her rifle, eye down the scope and peering down on the Nos Astra Premium Hotel Suite, and landing over the big, glass windows of Liara T'Soni's apartment.

She sighed, squaring her shoulders as she wore her light weight blue body armor, spectre insignia on both shoulder pads. She wore orange facial markings, a personal tattoo she had devised. She sighed as she located the asari again, currently heading up the stairs and into her bedroom to get dressed; she was currently naked and wearing a towel around her waist after having a shower.

Vasir was a Council Spectre; not rogue like Saren Arterius or Marcus Shepard, but a Council Spectre using the Shadow Broker's information to save innocent lives. The Broker's intel had helped her many a time over the years, even helping her put a stop to a batarian slaving raid on a turian colony, where she was able to alert the hierarchy authorities protecting the planet, and allow to plan accurately for the enemy. In return, she did a few errands for the Broker as one of his, or her, or their top agents. It was necessary evil.

 _And now I'm about to kill this asari in cold-blood, all because she wants to bring down the Broker. Serves her right._ Vasir had never been one to like purebloods (a name given to asari who are born of a bond between two asari), and had grown to hate them. Purebloods had been rare among the asari ever since the Council was formed, the asari saying that 'melding with other species allows our DNA to intermix and change, while two asari together produce nothing but pure asari offspring, with no alien code at all.' Vasir was born of a salarian and asari bond, much to her disgust.  _I can't believe I had that salarian's DNA in me. Still, I guess being sneaky has its advantages._

She refocused down the scope, keeping her line of sight directed over the asari's body. But by the time she did refocus, the asari was moving down the stairs, white, armoured labcoat on, Tempest SMG at her hip and a phalanx heavy pistol. The asari moved towards the door, and Vasir considered putting a bullet in her head right then and there.

She could have; one shot and that glass would shatter, the shot from an Indra so powerful it would continue through the window and blow through the young broker's head, a clean shot and all the Broker's problems would go away. But Vasir wanted to do this personally; to make it fun.  _This feels...to easy._ And with that, she let the sniper rifle fall back into her arms, the asari beginning to collapse the rifle and place it back in its corresponding bag.

Tela zipped up the bag and quickly hoisted it up, moving towards her skycar with a horrifying, sadistic grin on her face. Her skycar was a orange-peachy color, and was almost on par with a sportscar in speed.  _I paid hundreds of thousands for this car; it won't fail me now._ She moved up to the back, opened the trunk, and dumped the bag inside, quickly slamming it shut and keying her omni-tool to open the car door.

She stepped inside, sat down and gunned the engines, not waiting for the hum of the console as she sped forwards, her hands gliding across the holographic control panel as the skycar ascended slightly and then acellerated, shooting off the roof of the building and closing on the hotel building with terrifying speed.

She wheeled the building and watched as Liara entered her own personal skycar; a red three-seated zoomer; a business vehicle for lawyers and politicians; almost befitting of someone in Liara's stature.  _A pity I have to trash it._ She stalked Liara, hovering behind the building, and watching as the skycar took off, almost disappearing into Illium's traffic, if it hadn't been for Tela already painting it with her modified car tracker. She sped forward, trailing the skycar and closing in fast.

 _Shepard won't be saving you this time, T'Soni. This won't be a repeat of Therum. They won't recognize the charred, asari corpse in a destroyed skycar._ Vasir watched as her vehicle closed in, almost tailgating Liara's car. As she looked closer, she could see the asari broker looking into her rear vision mirror, clearly seeing Vasir. The spectre was quick, not wanting to give Liara a chance to escape.

Vasir winded down the window, allowing her to poke out. Harsh, high-powered winds, like that of a hurricane, assaulted her from the front as their skycars moved by, the asari almost feeling numb with cold, her armor her saving grace. She pulsed with biotic energy, leaning forward and preparing to send a biotic warp flying into Liara's engine, where her vehicle would plummet into the streets below...

...only for Liara's skycar to strafe right, throwing off Vasir's aim. The asari spectre growled as she tried to regain her bearings, only for Liara to speed up and dive left, disappearing behind two skyscrapers. The asari felt a sneer cross her face as she sat back inside, not even bothering to close her window as she pulled a sharp left turn in hot pursuit of the information broker.  _You are not escaping me, you pureblood bitch._

Liara's car wasn't hard to spot; it was the only one doing spins and speeding like a maniac.  _If the bitch wants to throw off my tail, she's doing a terrible job._ Vasir, instead, sped up, not about to let the asari escape. But the broker was speeding like crazy, her car far superior in speed and able to completely, if not outright, outgun Vasir's. She needed to block the broker's path of escape. A smile crept along her face.

 _Time to call in my troops._ She commed her omni-pad, holding it up to her mouth, "Key-Zero Alfa-Hotel-Bravo, how copy?"

The response was momentary, and a salarian voice came through, "Shadow Broker Unit 12-Yankee-Zulu, Agent Vasir. This is Agent Herai, problem?"

"Get in your skycars and block...public transit tunnel 0-5, Northwest Nos Astra Transit. Do not let T'Soni escape. She's in a red skycar, business vehicle, how copy?"

"Solid copy. We read you Agent Vasir," the salarian responded and after another moment, came back, "All units under your command are mobilized and moving to blockade. You are aware this will draw police attention."

"I don't give a  _fuck_ ," Vasir growled, "I'm a Spectre; I'll deal with the police. You just deal with the bitch. The Broker won't tolerate failure. Vasir out," and with that, the chase was on.  _I just have to lure her into the tunnel._ Her car ducked and dived inbetween traffic, avoiding collisions with trucks, cars, zoomers, even a few freighters. She sped past a red light, only noticing this when the traffic lane she was in was suddenly empty.  _Police intervention irrelevant; easily bribed._

Liara fell right into the spectre's trap without even any prompting; she doved into a cylindrical transit tunnel, where the spectre immediately followed, diving into the tunnel with a crazed smirk.  _You've got nowhere to run._ The tunnel was awash with light; bright white light coming from all sides of the tunnel, with a tight line of skycars coming to and from the area, Vasir watching as Liara almost barelled into a yellow taxi, narrowly avoiding it.  _Fucking fool._

Vasir copied the asari's movements, but with more grace. She didn't know why, but doing it felt like she was outcompeting the young asari.  _Irrelevant. Concentrate on mission parameters; eliminate T'Soni._ The car chase continued through the transit tunnel, both of them running through sharp turns, red lights and corners, eventually arriving at the end of the tunnel, where her men, members of the Shadow Broker's private army, were waiting in a blockade.

Vasir smiled when she saw Liara's skycar practically speed straight for a tightened line of black skycars, all of them pointed forward, and with at least one of the Broker's men poking out of the window, assault rifle in hand and ready to fire. Vasir gave the order for them to disable T'Soni's aircar, but not to kill her.  _That job is mine, and I alone will do it._

Her men immediately opened fire, gunfire tearing through the tunnel and all focused on Liara's car, but most of them missed or pinging off the hull.  _Aim you idiots, fucking aim._ As if hearing her thoughts, the mercs concentrated their fire more locally and began hitting the car with everything they had, Liara desperately trying to avoid the firepower being thrown at her...

...and then, as if the asari had grown a quad, she outright bull-rushed one of the cars in the line, smashing head on into the vehicle, sending the soldier poking out of its window to go tumbling from his position, screaming as he fell from the car and into a thousand foot drop into the streets below. The driver didn't do much better, losing control of his or her car as Liara sped on, her skycar dented at the front and smoking as she raced on. Vasir screamed as she rode past her troops.

She commed her omni-pad again, "All units, apprehend T'Soni by whatever means necessary! Squad three, with me, follow in pursuit," and she watched as the cars dispersed, all moving to execute their assigned tasks. Liara's stunt had bought her some time, but not much.  _She's not a coward, no fucking doubting that. Ramming a car like that takes balls, but asari don't have balls._ Vasir practically glared Liara's rearbumper down as squad three in their four skycars moved in behind her, some speeding up ahead to flank T'Soni.

They rounded a corner, two of her men moving up behind the bitch's car and one actually poking out, wielding a ML-77 Missile Launcher. The person looked turian. The proximity made it so that Liara couldn't turn in time when the rocket fired.  _Now if you can actually hit the damnable woman...goddess guide that turian's aim..._

A head-pounding thrum cut through the air, silencing everything and at that moment, Vasir knew their was a truck above them. Her suspicions were confirmed when the traffic freighter barged its way through traffic, the smaller skycars moving out of the way and giving the colossal vehicle a wide berth...

...and it moved directly in front of Liara's car.

The asari made a swerve to the right, whether planned or not, Vasir couldn't know, and that moment, the genius of a turian decided to pull the trigger of the launcher she was grasping. Blue vapor arched from the weapon, the turian recoiling from the shot as the missile shot towards T'Soni's car, past it, and impacted the side of the truck.

The force of the blast caused the truck driver to panic and lose control, the vehicle tilting in a capsize fashion, slowing down as the driver hit the breaks. Vasir dove under it, watching as the idiot-with-the-launcher's car smashed into the truck's side, both of them exploding in a roaring inferno as the skycar tore right through the truck, most likely detonating the cargo inside and causing it to light up like a conglomeration of fireworks. She turned to the second car flanking T'Soni, only to watch as it slammed into a office complex, combusting into flames from the impact, leaving her only two cars. She turned back to T'Soni, truly pissed off.

But just as she hit the breaks, she heard the telltale signs of sirens...and when she looked into the rear vision mirrors, she saw the flaming wreck of the truck tumbling into the city below, with the blue and white exteriors of twelve police cruisers moving up behind them, sirens wailing.  _Fuck._ She waved the cars behind her, ordering them to lure the cops away. They did so, opening fire on the cars and causing half of them to break off in pursuit, the other six closing fast.

She sighed as she swung left, then right, then left again, avoiding all the cars she could, trying to lose the cops, and trying not to lose T'Soni in the process.  _Only one way to lose 'em._ She commed her omni-pads one last time, "Surviving units, I have six police units in pursuit of me. Hone in on my IFF and blockade. Do not let them past, engage in firefight if necessary, Vasir out."

She didn't even look back to see if they followed her orders, she just focused on Liara, following her unpredictable, sporadic movements. Finally, the asari managed to lead her into a empty area; a traffic lane currently unoccupied. Now Liara's car was alone, vulnerable and most of all, had nowhere to blend in. Vasir followed the asari, evil smirk crossing her features...

...and then flying back in shock as Liara abruptly stopped, spun around to face her and acellerated again, shooting past the spectre's car and blurring speed. Vasir's eyes trailed her car for as long as possible before she cursed, turning back to face forward so she could turn...

Liara had lead her into a trap, only now did she realize that.  _Clever cunt._

A white flash, followed by pain as a piece of shrapnel dug into the spectre's armor, Vasir looking at what had once been the front bonet of her skycar, now blown apart and torn asunder. Liara had spun, deployed an air mine, and then sped off, drawing Vasir's attention long enough that it would be too late by the time she noticed the damn thing.

She ignored the pain, ignored the need to scream in agony as it kept her blood clotted. Recovering from her shock, she tried to regain control of the panel, but it was useless. Purple blood oozed from scratches and possible scars on her face from glass that cut her as her windshield caved in from the blast, shattered glass littering her skycar, flames and smoke pouring out of her car like a missile.

The control panel was gone, the emitters blown out or apart. She just watched hopelessly as the skycar's speed kept up, the vehicle careening towards a nearby building, windows waiting to greet her as he moved in to meet them.  _Oh fuck..._ her five-fingered hands shot up to shield her face from the impact...

...and everything went black as her skycar crashed into the side of the building.

**{Loading...}**

_October 18, 2185_

_1246 hours._

_Dock, Business District, Nos Astra, Illium._

_Commander Marcus Lee Shepard, Chief Engineer Tali'Zorah vas Normandy, Gunnery Master Garrus Vakarian, Master Thief Kasumi Goto._

Marcus let out a relieved sigh as he stepped out onto the balcony of the Business District Dock, stretching out his limbs and smiling with satisfaction as he felt, and  _heard_  the satisfying pop of multiple muscles as he stretched. He felt the sound of skycars in the distance oddly gratifying, not to mention the sound of a crowd milling about, and Nos Astra was just about as busy as it had been when he was last here.  _This is where I recruited Thane and Samara. Where I saved Miranda's sister...and where Liara is._ He wondered how the asari's vendetta against the Shadow Broker was going.

_I'll find out soon enough._

He turned to his turian best friend, Garrus Vakarian, the thief he grow so close to, Kasumi Goto, and his quarian girlfriend, Tali'Zorah, as they all left the airlock of the Normandy and moved into the asari capitalist haven that was Nos Astra; a city that never hid the beauty of asari architecture, yet was still as dangerous as any street on Omega.

 _Liara will most likely have more than enough credits to facilitate in our repairs. Millions it'll cost...including a few extra for that extra feature..._ he grinned, pushing down the thought that fought to rise.  _A surprise. Don't spoil it by grinning like an idiot._

"Illium," Tali spoke softly, sighing, "And I thought I'd seen the last of this place."

He looked down at the quarian, eyes creasing into a frown, "Why's that?"

"I hate it. Everything about this place is wrong," Tali declared, leaning back on the balls of her feet and crossing her arms, "Crime, the way they treat my people...its no better than Omega, just with a few colorful walls put over it to make it look more accomodating. Its not even better than the Citadel."

"It is," Garrus added, mandibles flaring into a grin, "They don't have the Council, for a start. Or C-Sec."

Tali scoffed, ignoring the turian's personal jest. Kasumi was silent almost the entire time, just watching everyone exchange conversation. Eventually, she spoke up, a massive grin creasing her features, "Well, its time I took Tals shopping. Illium's bound to have plenty of shops. We're girls, time to act like it."

The thief cut off the quarian's groan as she playfully hit her on the shoulder, grin not loosening, "Oh, lighten up! It'll be fun! Just you and me, and no boys to annoy us! It'll be a girly time."

"That's what I'm afraid of," Tali whispered, looking to Marcus with a pleading look, one Marcus pretended not to notice. Tali growled at him, but he continued his act of being oblivious, Garrus holding back a chuckle. Kasumi just all out guffawed, tugging at Tali's arm. The quarian finally gave in, but not after shooting Marcus the most deathly glare in existence.  _Oh shit._ And before he knew it, Kasumi had pulled Tali away and they disappeared around the corner, gone.

He sighed, turning to the only turian on the balcony, "So...want to come with? I'm going to go talk to Liara; see how she's doing."

Garrus looked at him, eyes skeptical. It was only momentary, but it was there long enough for the spectre to see it.  _He still hasn't forgiven her for not joining us to take down the Collectors. That's...understandable._

The turian continued, oblivious to Marcus' thoughts, "I...I don't think I'm ready to talk to her yet, not until she apologizes for what she...did."

"She had perfectly good reasons," Marcus responded, leaning against a wall and flexing his muscles. Worry flashed in his eyes and he looked at the ground, voice low, "I...I'm more worried of what she's become...the  _machine_ she's become."

Garrus raised an eyebrow, not quite getting what he meant, "Care to elaborate?"

The spectre inhaled, shrugging as he did and squaring his shoulders, "She's...changed. I know we've all changed; hell, you became a kickass mercenary, vowing to destroy crime, Michael the Archangel reborn," he threw a smirk in the turian's direction, and watched as his friend returned it, mandibles tugging upwards, "Kaidan practically stayed the same, but Tali...I mean shit, she was a badass little engineer back on the SR-1, but now she's a badass engineer  _marine commander._ Wrex...well, he leads the  _entire krogan race._ But those were all for the greater good...what Liara's become...its like talking to an entirely different person. I remember her for being that shy, nervous little scientist who had trouble communicating with people who weren't asari. Now she's...ruthless...cold, efficient. She makes this vendetta against the Shadow Broker seem like a war, yet she plays it like a game. Its...nauseating."

Garrus simply shrugged, his turian expression set in perputual stoic mode, eyes always predatory even when trying to be reassuring, "You're damn right about that...but we all took your death hard. Her change might have been a result of that. Besides, she even admitted to you that  _she_ was responsible for  _bringing you back to life,_ by  _handing you over to Cerberus,_ while simultaneously  _losing her lover._ That's got to have a lot of emotional weight. But she shouldn't have let it stop her from joining us; the Collectors were working with the Shadow Broker anyway."

 _A good point; her assistance in destroying one of the Broker's most influential clients would have made her cause alot stronger. Yet again, the Broker would be more inclined to kill her._ With a shrug, an inhale and another sigh, he looked at Garrus, managing a weak smile, "Well, better get to her then. What are you going to do while I'm gone?"

"Buy stuff I guess," Garrus shrugged, "Maybe find some people to help with the Normandy. Liara can handle the costs, but we'll need a good drydock, and the repairs, refit and the new paintjob will take at least a week. Might as well find out some good locations and find some upgrades for the ship. The Thanix, Silaris and Cyclonic upgrades make our little stealth frigate a Reaper-killing machine, but that doesn't mean we're invincible. We're just as vulnerable as Harbinger is."

"A good point," Marcus clicked his tongue, turning to look down the corridor Tali and Kasumi and disappeared down before turning back to Garrus, patting the turian on the shoulder, "I guess I'll see you later."

The turian gave a nod and Marcus turned away, walking down the balcony, nodding at Careena; the asari greeter for Liara, and moved down the customs checkout point, smiling as he walked slowly through, closing his eyes and breathing in the alien, but fresh, air, while simultaneously cracking his knuckles and rolling his shoulders.  _I need to do more exercise; my body has become far too tense, especially since the whole Collector ordeal. But they're gone now, so I guess I'll get more time._

He almost bumped into a wondering volus, and he apologized to the almost unnoticable walking bowling ball, continuing on as he looked at the numerous asari, salarians, turians, humans, hanar, elcor, volus and other species intermixing with the crowds. Hell, Marcus was damn sure he saw a drell too.  _Illium; an asari colony, yet completely multicultural and transracial._ He moved towards the balcony outside, letting his hands stop him as he gripped the railing, the sun of Tasale baring down on all the planet's inhabitants; it wasn't harsh like Aralakh over Tuchanka, but it was warm.

The glow it lit over the thriving asari city was immense; the face of skyscrapers lighting up as yellow light poured over them. It was a beautiful sight, and really did put Nos Astra in a different light. He was sure he could see the Dantius Towers from where he stood, along with the Nos Astra Spaceport hiding behind a trio of buildings not too far away.  _Anaya must be making a killing on the amount of crimes I helped solve for her. And I can imagine with Aleena dead, the Dantius Towers will remain uncompleted._

He looked down at the ground, the city's beauty bringing up darker thoughts in his mind.  _Reapers rained from the sky, spewing hot death over Nos Astra as piercing beams of hot uranium acellerated at hyper-velocities cut skyscrapers clean in half, the city alight with fire and screaming as they tried to flee their murderers._

And then Harbinger landed, glowing orange eyes distinguishing it from the other Reapers, not to mention its  _size._ It was bigger than a Collector Cruiser, and definitely bigger than the  _Destiny Ascension._ The Leader of the Reapers seemed to lock eyes with the spectre and his voice boomed with untold horror.

_**You are mine, Shepard. You will complete the Prophecy, it is your destiny. The Requiem is coming.** _

He retorted in his mind, confused.  _"What Requiem!?"_

Harbinger's response was enigmatic,  _ **"You will make a choice that will destroy you. You will push those you love away in the name of false safeties. You will surrender yourself, allowing time for our arrival. You will falter, you will waver, and you will die. All of you...ascending to a higher form. Reaper form. Those which you know as Reapers are your salvation through destruction.**_

_"We will fight you!"_

_**And you will fail.** _

He shook the thoughts from his head, turning upwards in panic. It was alright; Nos Astra wasn't burning, there wasn't any screams, and the Reapers were still in dark space. He wiped the cold sweat that had been collecting on his brow, looking around to make sure people hadn't heard his breakdown. He straightened his uniform.

_Requiem. What did it mean by that? I will make a decision that will destroy me? Push those I love away? I...what does that even mean?_

_Don't bother; it was a flash, nothing more. Harbinger is in dark space, along with the rest of the Reapers. They cannot touch me. It was all an illusion; fear given form. Ignore it. You'll never push Tali away, or mum. I've never come across a decision I couldn't resolve and I will not surrender to the Reapers. Never. Not while I still control my mind and senses._

He heard dramatic music play behind him and he turned around, turning to a terminal screen on a nearby wall where the Nos Astra News was playing. He watched in widened eyes as he saw the words 'Breaking News' flash across the screen.  _This oughta be interesting..._

And then further shock when he saw Liara's face pop up on screen, her picture on the right with the word 'victim' listed under her name.  _Oh please don't be dead..._ He moved forward, suddenly interested, as was half the district...apparently they all knew the information broker. The news reporter began her report, the asari wearing a very formal uniform, "This is Nos Astra News, bringing you breaking news. A situation has broken out in the traffic lanes of Nos Astra this morning as a car chase broke out in traffic in downtown Nos Astra. We take you live to the scene of the incident."

Marcus watched with rapt attention, not knowing that his knuckles were whitening with his grip on the railing. An asari reporter again, this one a deep purple with omni-tool out turned towards her video drone. She stood ontop of a rooftop, a building behind her. As he looked at the building though, everyone gasped at the sight of flames engulfing a hole in the building, a crashed skycar having torn through it. The asari cleared her throat.

"Yes Nayla, the scene here is looking pretty messy, as the police have informed me," the asari reported, pointing at the wreckage, while keeping eye contact with the camera, "Famous Information Broker Liara T'Soni was reported leaving her home at 1208 AM Illium Time when a car was reported having followed her, eventually engaging in a car chase where Miss T'Soni panicked and tried to escape her pursuer. Things only got uglier as the assailant apparently brought in reinforcements, heavily-armed and trained mercenaries wearing black markings but with no traceable origin moving in and causing havoc in Illium's traffic, resulting in the deaths of one truck driver in a fatal crash."

"Police attempted to intervene, but were intercepted and engaged by the enigmatic mercenaries, who's identity, group and client can still not be identified," the asari droned on, "The car chase ended here, with police reporting that by the time they reached the scene, they had found the car in the building, crashed. However, after identifying the vehicle's shape, color and registry, it is confirmed by police not to be owned by Liara T'Soni, but of her assailant. Further inquiries state the use of a air mine to neatralize the enemy vehicle. However, police are yet to find a body, with the crashed vehicle being absent of the unidentified assailant, and blood surprisingly absent from the crime scene."

"It was announced later that Detective Anaya and a team of police plan to question Liara T'Soni as to the details of the unprovoked, or possibly provoked, attempted on her life," the asari finished by turning back to the camera, "Property damage is expected to be high, with Elanus Risk Control Services and Binary Helix already gunning for legal representation in regards to corporate interest and property damage. More from the scene, later on. Back to you Nayla..."

Marcus was already sprinting for Liara's office as he finished listening to the broadcast, rushing to make sure Liara was there and alright.  _Unknown mercs...could be Cerberus, but they don't wear black markings...it could only be..._ he gulped, almost stopping in his jog towards Liara's office,  _No...yes, it is. The Shadow Broker finally tried to do it. That son of a bitch finally tried to kill Liara._ He growled as he moved to rush upstairs,  _She isn't safe here anymore. I have to move her to safety. I have to-_

He stopped, dead in his tracks at the top of the stairs as he stared at Nyxeris at her desk...

...and the pool of purple blood pooling around the asari's head as she lay, face down, on the desk. He rushed over to her, pulling her head up, but only seeing lifeless eyes, and a bullet straight through her skull. He sighed, placing her gently back on the desk before doing a full 180 on the door, seeing it was locked.  _Oh no you don't...I already lost Ashley, I am not losing anymore of my friends..._ He raised his omni-tool, summoning the overload program Tali had given him and aiming at the haptic interface, hitting it with a strong electric shock.

The haptic interface sputtered, screeched and died, the door swinging open to show Liara's office. Her desk was turned over, the asari broker in question azure in blue light, eyes ablazen with fury, one he had never wanted to see in someone like Liara. He turned to see the 'assailant', the asari wearing navy blue light armor, a single carnifex hand cannon drawn in her left hand and aiming at Liara's head, the asari's own biotics not summoned. He saw her left hand gripping her side, Marcus looking down to see purple blood dripping from a wound at her side. She wore orange facial markings and her insignia was a...a...a...

A  _Spectre?_

Hearing the door open, the asari snapped her look to him and sneered, letting her hand fall from her wounded side to snap a Tempest SMG into place, aiming it directly at Marcus' head. Her sneer was replaced with a sadistic smile.

"Good," the asari spat, voice laced with a undertone of pain, "Now I can kill my target, and the biggest disgrace to the spectres since the quarian race."

**{Loading...}**

_October 18, 2185_

_1251 hours._

_Adjoining Corridor, Business District, Nos Astra, Illium._

_Spectre Tela Vasir._

She hated being defeated; she hated being outsmarted. But what Tela Vasir despised the most was being  _defeated_   _ **and**_ _outsmarted by a pureblood slut._ Tela kept cursing as she basically dragged herself across the corridor, people giving the asari spectre mixed looks as she limbed on, Vasir ignoring all of them.  _I'm...not...going to die...to a...pureblood...bitch. Not...T'Soni. Not...anyone. I am a...Spectre. The right hand of the...Council,_ _ **and for a good fucking reason**_ _!_

She grunted as she continued, left hand still groping her injury, Vasir wincing everytime she had to walk and move her hips, causing it to stretch her wound. Purple blood poured from the wound like the tears of a child, non-stop running.  _I was a fucking idiot; medical training 101: never remove an object from an injury, because it lets blood flow out. But no, I had to play the friggin badass. Dumb fuck._

She felt the presence of her carnifex heavy pistol and tempest SMG at her hips, ready to use when she needed them.  _Had to ditch my Indra sniper rifle and Revenant LMG when the skycar crashed...hell, even left my warp grenades behind...at least I brought some weapons...and there's my biotics too._ She was prepared to kill T'Soni, even if she had to do it upfront.

None of her troops had radioed, which either meant the police had defeated them, they were recalled, or they were simply dead. Either way, she was alone now, but she had no doubt she could kill the asari before Marcus Shepard, The Disgrace of the Spectres, returned.  _Man of many purities...then he goes joins Cerberus...fucking hypocrite. I hate humans, but now I have a reason to..._ _ **really**_ _hate humans._ It wasn't envy she felt for the man, simply hatred for everything he stood for and was doing.  _...then there's him and his Reaper nonsense. Man should be institutionalized, not given a gun and spectre status. I have to question the Council's judgement sometimes._

She finally hit the door panel at the end of the corridor and stepped out, the stairs to Liara's office just to her left, and the business district to her right.  _Illium; asari beauty. Hmph. Nothing special about it really...place is nothing compared to Armali on Thessia._ She turned, continuing up the stairs, achingly getting there. She drew her pistol, ready to step inside and kill the bitch, getting it over with, radio for pickup and report back to the Broker as soon as possible.

She arrived at the door, but was stopped from opening it by an asari monotone voice behind her, most likely T'Soni's paperpusher. She sighed in irritation at the asari's monotone, "Ma'am...you cannot go in there without an appointment, Miss T'Soni is very busy and...goddess...you're bleeding."

Vasir rolled her eyes and spun on the spot, turning to face the asari with a sneer, raising her pistol, watching the fear in the asari's eyes and drinking it in.  _You work for T'Soni; that makes you dirty in my book._ "Did you your mother drop you on your head when you were born? You sound like a fucking VI module," and she pulled the trigger, the powerful weapon recoiling in her hand as it blew a nice, clean hole in the asari's head, body faceplanting onto the desk as purple blood coated the terminals behind her and pooled around the desk.

_Another fresh cadaver._

She turned back to the door and opened the door, stepping inside. Liara had obviously heard the gunshot and was ready for Vasir, her desk flipped over and biotics aflare, the asari wearing her armoured labcoat and sporting an SMG and pistol at her hip. Her voice was venom and Vasir closed the door, using her omni-tool and a special program to lock the door.

"You killed Nyxeris, didn't you?" Liara spat.

Vasir jabbed a thumb at the door, slumping her lips with a 'shit happens' kinda expression, "You mean the VI with a cunt and tits back there? Yeah, I took care of her. No more ear bleeds for you."

Liara fumed, taking a step forward, "I know you work for the Broker."

Vasir rolled her eyes.  _No shit,_ she smiled at the asari broker, "Yes. My name is Tela Vasir, Special Tactics and Recon."

Liara widened her eyes for a moment, "You're a...spectre? You work for the  _Broker?_ You betrayed the Council to  _work for him._ You're no Spectre!"

 _Then you're no broker._ She rolled her eyes a second time, "Don't you judge me, princess. I would  _never_ betray the Council, no matter the cause. The Shadow Broker has given me good intel over the years that has saved lives! And if he needs a few people to disappear, well," she aimed her pistol at the asari's head while strafing the room, "I'm willing to pay that price."

"You killed Feron," Liara hissed.

"I didn't, and neither did the Shadow Broker's men. He's not even dead," Vasir hissed causing Liara's eyes to widen, "He's nice and safe and cozy at the Broker's HQ. A place which you'll never find."

"You're lying," the broker hissed, pointing an accusing finger at Vasir, "Feron is dead; I watched him fall."

"Yeah, from a leg injury," the spectre scoffed, pistol still aimed, "The Broker ordered him captured, you know, to repay him for his treachery. Noone betrays the Broker and gets away with it. Yet again, noone fails a mission and gets away with it," she stopped, pistol aimed directly at the asari's forehead, left hand still clutching her side, "So why don't I just end you and I'll be on my way? I've got credits to pickup, along with some intel."

Just as she was about to pull the trigger, she heard the sound of an electric overload followed by the door swinging open. She spun towards the entrance to watch as human, wearing an N7 Cap, hoodie and shirt walked into the room, with tightly-knit jeans and polished shoes. His piercing gaze appeared to move around the room before landing on her, his stance ready for combat. She recognized this human. She sneered.  _Marcus Shepard._

Her sneer dropped and was replaced with a sadistic smile as she unhooked her SMG and aimed it at Marcus' head, "Good," she spat, "Now I can kill my target, and the biggest disgrace to the spectres since the quarian race."

Before she could pull the trigger though, a warp field collided into her side, sending her flying into a wall, the spectre having made the mistake of not keeping her eyes on T'Soni. The SMG fell from her grip, but she kept the carnifex firmly in her grasp, turning towards the asari bitch with a look of hate. She summoned her own biotics.

"You'll pay for that,  _ **you pureblood bitch!**_ " She launched a biotic shockwave at the asari, sending Liara reeling backwards slightly, giving the spectre time to stand up, only to have a fist slam into her face as Marcus intervened, right hooking her in the face. She quickly ducked under his next punch and swept his foot out from under him, causing him to collapse to the ground in a heap as she stood up, pistol aimed down at him, her smile never leaving.

Her eyes widened in surprise when she saw his own body pulse with dark energy.  _Oh fuc-_ She was slammed against a wall, unable to break free from her biotic restraints as Marcus held her there, a look of anger in his face.

"Why did the Shadow Broker want Liara dead?" Marcus interrogated, "Does it know she's onto him?"

"Why should I fucking tell you!?"

She was lifted up and tossed across the room, landing on Liara's capsized desk and snapping it clean in two. Vasir's back was wrapped in pain, but she regained her senses when she saw Liara looming over her, preparing a biotic punch. Vasir let her legs fly upwards, hitting T'Soni in the chest and causing her to stumble backwards from the blow, the asari spectre using the momentum from her legs to execute a cart wheel into a standing position.

She wrapped Liara in her own biotics and tossed her out the door and spiralling into Nyxeris' dead body, allowing her to turn and face Marcus. But as soon as she did, he was gone in an explosion of blue and white light; a missile smashing into her like a freight train. She flew backwards, hitting the glass observation window that served as the back 'wall' for Liara's office. She heard a crack, but took no notice, instead raising her arms to block a blow from Marcus' fists. She right-hooked him in the face, but when going for a left, he countered this and kneed her in the gut, followed by another to her face, breaking her nose.

_Oh you son of a bitch..._

In retaliation for his attack, and ignoring the purple blood trailing from her nose, she spun around and kicked him across the face, stunning him long enough for her to kick him in the groin, causing him to double over in agony, before she slammed a biotic fist into his chest, and then one into his face, smiling at the satisfying crack of his nose breaking.

She was shocked to see the human recover from both injuries extremely quickly, the N7 gritting his teeth to ignore the pain throbbing in his groin and the copper taste of red blood oozing into his mouth. As he turned to the asari, he spat out a broken tooth, a few bits of blood, and then growled a feral noise. It...frightened Vasir.  _What the fuck was that!_

Marcus' own biotic fist connected with Vasir's face again, further disjointing her already broken nose and the asari, too weak to raise a biotic barrier and the pain from her side quickly returning with a vengeance, was unable to stop Marcus as he headbutted her, stunning only her, it seemed. She remembered she had a pistol, but it did her no good as Marcus spun her around, grabbed her arm and violently yanked it out of its socket, Vasir keeping back a scream of pain as her left arm went limp, carnifex falling from her grip.

She was completely helpless as she fell onto her knees, trying to get up, only to have Marcus' hands wrap around her face and the back of her skull, holding her in a tight headlock. His voice was next to her ear, as if trying to bite it off, "I will ask you...one last time. Does the Shadow Broker know?"

"Fuck you," she spat blood onto the ground.

"You're a disgrace to the spectres," he spat, making Vasir laugh, "And a traitor to the Council. You kill because some guy with no face tells you too."

"No, I do it because that guy with no face helped me save lives and in return, I do what he wants," Vasir spat, turning her look to him, "And you're working with Cerberus...so don't you  _ **dare**_ fucking judge me.  _You have no right_."

And with a yank of both hands, Marcus Shepard snapped Tela Vasir's neck.

**{Loading...}**

_October 18, 2185_

_1310 hours._

_Liara T'Soni's Office, Business District, Nos Astra, Illium._

_Commander Marcus Lee Shepard, Information Broker Liara T'Soni._

Marcus stood in the middle of the devastated office, eyes locked on the crumbling form of the asari spectre, her neck twisted at a paranormal direction. Her body flopped to the ground like an apple falling from a tree, her body completely devoid of life. He watched as her left hand fell from her chest, exposing the lethal wound there. Purple blood trickled from her broken nose and lips to the ground, a slowly forming pool building up.

He winced as he grabbed his nose and yanked it back into his position, almost crying out in agony. He cradled his nose for a few more moments, ignoring the soreness in his groin as the door opened once more, Liara rushing inside, biotics ready, only to stop at the image of her killer's corpse.

"You killed Vasir," Liara stated, not as a question, just a statement of fact. She looked back at him, concern suddenly lacing her features as she examined the red blood trickling from his nose, body stiff from the battle. He had outmatched Vasir in everyway; speed, augmented strength and his own, honed biotic abilities. Vasir hadn't stood a chance, but that didn't mean she couldn't have dealt damage of her own.

He looked at her, shaking his head and letting his body relax, releasing the tension in him, "Yes I did; and she worked for the Shadow Broker. This has got to stop Liara."

Liara frowned at him, "What has...?"

"Don't play stupid with me. Not me, of all people," Marcus demanded, alittle too harshly. He stepped over the desk, away from Vasir's body, and over to Liara, gaze uncertain, "She just tried to kill you; the Broker himself, the king of the information commodity, just sent a hitwoman to assassinate you. He obviously now has such a bounty on your head that he's managed to hire  _spectres_ to murder you in cold-blood.  _You know damn well what has to stop!_ "

"But can't you see?" Liara pleaded, pointing at the body angrily, "I  _can't_! I know the truth now; Feron is alive! He didn't die, the Shadow Broker captured him and is torturing him! He's alive and I can save him! This isn't just revenge anymore! I have the chance to turn this into a rescue!"

He gave her a surprised look, "You mean...Vasir told you that Feron's alive?"

"She openly admitted it," Liara told him, "And I know what you're thinking; is it too good to be true? Could she have been lying? No, because why would she give me false motivation to find the Broker, knowing he had Feron, if she was going to kill me unless she was confident I wouldn't live to continue my mission? What would be the point of feeding lie to someone who's going to die anyway?" The asari leaned forward, fire in her eyes, "He's  _alive_ , Marcus. I know it. He's alive, and I'm going to  _kill_ the Shadow Broker and  _rescue him._ This isn't going to end, this has only just begun."

He watched as Liara strode across the room, stepping over the desk and looming over Vasir's body, sighing heavily as she turned to face Marcus, "We could have kept her alive, questioned her." She almost sounded like she was chastising him.

He turned to her, defensive, "It was me or her, and it was clear she wasn't going to talk. She's a Spectre, she would never betray the Council. I would know,  _I am one._ She was going to fight to the last breath, and she would never speak before that. I had to kill her; there was no other option."

"Torture is  _always_  an option," Liara coldly stated.

"Torture is  _never_ an option," Marcus growled, startling Liara who looked at him in surprise, "And you better get your shit together quickly, because you're not the Liara I remember. Goddamn it, I  _taught_ my crew better than this! I will not sacrifice who I am so you can torture some asari spectre who might not even know anything."

Liara turned to him, desperation in her own eyes, "We  _all_ changed! Don't tell me Tali or Garrus or Wrex didn't change, because I know they did! My  _informants_ told me they did!"

He walked up to her, his long strides placing him inches from her in the span of two steps, his body looming over her, "This isn't about change, this is about  _how you changed._ I can understand the broker part, but I can't understand the reputation. I read up on you. Killing people who didn't give you information? Risking your own agents to obtain information? Blowing up a  _research facility!?_ Losing your lover doesn't justify killing innocent people to get revenge! And now you  _dare_ suggested to torture Vasir? This has gotten beyond ridiculous Liara; I don't like it, but with this common information...you're lucky Samara doesn't know."

"And why's that?" Liara asked, eyes showing a barely hidden scent of fear, "Because she's a justicar?"

"Because she's a justicar. One who'd kill you in a heartbeat for what you've done. But because I'm your friend, I won't tell her. I don't want to watch her kill you," Marcus stated softly.

"Why thank you; I'm really reassured," Liara pushed past him, moving to leave but stopping in her tracks, spinning on the spot to face him, weak smile across her face, "This has just begun Shepard; there's no turning back for me. You can either help me,  _or stay the hell out of my way_."

He shuddered at her icy final words as she turned back around, walking out the door and watching it close behind her form. He sighed, shoulders slumping and standing in the middle of Liara's office; which at the moment might as well have been a warzone. He sniffed, a drip of blood shooting back up his nose and causing him to wince. He sighed again.

There was no going back for him either.

**{Loading...}**

_October 18, 2185_

_1353 hours._

_'Humanity's Sanctum,' Upper Level, Cronos Station, Anadius System._

_The Illusive Man._

"Geoff, give me an update on our production," TIM ordered, blowing out a curtain of smoke from his mouth as his cigarette hissed with the action, the tip glowing brightly as he puffed it, took it out of his mouth, and blew. Geoff's face was on screen, the man currently working at Marx Station.

"Of course sir," the human on the other side rose his datapad, reading off the contents, "The cells working on acquiring the prototype armor, military division, have declared a partial success, with most of the prototype armor obtained from alliance research facilities and work has begun to begin modifying the armor, testing it, and then begin to consider enabling it to interface with cybernetic implants."

"Give me a diagram," TIM ordered and he got what he wanted. Another holographic screen popped up next to Geoff, showing a diagram of the suggested armor template. It was bulky looking, but looked completely sealed, nobody able to see or identify the user; good. It was sporting gold and white, the Cerberus colors, along with the insignia on the chestplate, shoulders and scalp of the helmet.

The helmet itself was completely sealed, with no way to see the user's face, two 'eye-like' diagonal protrusions alighing the front of the helmet, glowing with red light and giving an imposing look. The suit also a black weave uniform under it, with the armor piled ontop, leaving the area around the waist, the neck and elbows exposed, armor covering the rest. It looked bulky, but light enough to run around in, and the helmet had two filters on both sides to allow breathing, the armor also having two oxygen tanks attached to the back for EVA combat.

He liked it, "Very good. I assume this armor is for the light infantry?"

Geoff nodded, "We call it Light Ajax Armor sir, and its going to be used for assault troopers. They have four other armor prototypes in the making and they will all suit all six divisions of infantry; the assault troopers, centurions, snipers, infiltrators, combat engineers and heavy troops. They've nicknamed the snipers 'Nemesis'," the infiltrators 'phantoms,' and the heavy troops 'guardians.' It only seemed fitting."

"Excellent," TIM declared, moving on, "And how long can we expect tests to be conducted?"

"A week sir for the engineer, nemesis and assault trooper suits sir, and another for the rest."

TIM nodded, pleased with those numbers, "And how long will it take for mass-production?"

"With the resources we've required, it would take a month to begin mass-production, and six months to build enough for the army you have planned. The design makes it so that the armor is feasiable to build and very easy to manufacture. With enough workers, building it is piece-meal. Interfacing for implants, I've been told, is a simple matter of adding a hardsuit computer, but those are very easily acquired," Geoff looked at him, smiling.

TIM shook his head, "Six months is unacceptable; I want them in two."

Geoff widened his eyes, "But sir, we don't have the-"

"Yes we do, Dielheart," TIM interrupted firmly, shooting his second-in-command a stern glare, taking a sip of his ever-present whiskey, "Dial up every contractor we've invested in and get them to cash in on this. With them helping, manufacturing this will be done in two months and my ground troops will be easy. Styx Cell will handle the cybernetics, everything will work fine," he snuffed out his cigarette on a ash tray, not looking at Geoff was he spoke again, "Now, how are we going with our manned combat mechs? I heard the Atlases are high on the market for production."

"That they are sir," Geoff responded, a growing grin on his face.

"Then I want them," TIM ordered, "Buy as many as you can, with all the resources you can, and do it fast, you have a two month period to do it in. I want heavy ground support for my troops, and Atlas mechs are the closest I'm going to get to actual tanks. Project: Firewalker was a success, the Collector campaign proved that. I want it revised and the design improved; we might have need of such vehicles. Also, in the cybernetics, I want Reaper tech utilized."

Geoff had been following and writing it down but stopped when he heard the last line, the man looking up in shock, " _Reaper_ tech sir? Sir, you are aware of the properties of Reaper tech, are you not? To fiddle with such technology is a tremendous risk. Saren's base on Virmire proved this."

 _It proved that Arterius was a fool and didn't know what he was doing._ "I know the risks in Reaper technology and I'm quite educated on the effects of indoctrination. Suffice to say, I believe we should be able to manipulate the technology to suit our needs. Cerberus has scientists and plenty of them. I want the wreckage of Sovereign found, and whatever can be retrieved of that Derelict Reaper over Mnemosyne. All the tech you can gather, and as much as you can carry. Sterilize it if need be, but find me a way to use it."  _We must control the Reapers, not destroy them. To control them is the means to human dominance._

"Yes...sir," Geoff replied hesitantly, reluctantly writing it down. Once finished, he looked back up, eager to please TIM.  _Good. He's learning. He is more loyal than Miranda._

"Now, I want an update on my navy," TIM requested.

Geoff nodded, bringing up his datapad again, "The operation was a success, and to our builders' surprise, Cerberus is proud to welcome the first of its new, refurbished navy, with two frigates, the CAW Belarus and CAW Kosovo. We are also happy to greet our first fighter wings, and two new destroyers; CAW Thor and CAW Sif. One of our first light cruisers, the CAW Montgomery, named after Bernard Law Montgomery, is almost ready to be launched, but needs a few guns added."

"And the Elbrus?" TIM asked.

"Half-done," Geoff announced, "The dreadnought-construction process has been hard to keep subtle, and we're planning on moving it to Cronos Station to complete construction, but it is going well. We only have five dreadnoughts, but we are putting the Elbrus at the spearhead. She will be finished soon sir."

"Good, and tell Petrovsky to report to Cronos for debriefing," TIM ordered, "I want him to be able to see the pride of the fleet before I give him command of it. I'm even considering making him Fleet Admiral of the Cerberus Navy, but we'll cross that bridge when we get there. Also, inform Agent Leng that he is being reassigned to Walker Station. I want the station personnel eliminated, and the station's computers wiped. Shepard isn't stupid, I know he'll give Walker's location to the Alliance, and I don't want them gaining any intel on us."

"Its done," Geoff turned back to him, "Anything else?"

"Project: Eva," TIM pondered, "How does it fair?"

"Astonishingly well," Geoff stated, "They started off where they left with EDI, and doubled back to add more hardware blocks before preceding to completely rewrite it computer core, making it less intelligent in terms of AI power, and more closer to a VI. She- _it,_ still has AI intelligence, but they are ensuring that a rebellion like EDI's will not happen again," the human assistant read off, "Construction of the body is a daunting task, but they are managing it. They are using all they know about mechanized technology to create the ultimate infiltrator; she will be able to pass herself off as a human being; she won't even  _look_ robotic. She's state-of-the-art technology, but its daunting."

"I didn't expect to be a walk in the park, but it has to be done. Eva will succeed where my other agents can't. And, when I reacquire the Normandy, I might even give it the chance to kill EDI itself. That'll be a sight to see."  _Everything is moving into place; Shepard, you won't be able to evade me much longer._

"Now, about the-"

A voice came in through a terminal beside him, "Sir, we have an incoming voice message call coming in from the Shadow Broker. Its marked as urgent."

TIM nodded, hearing the urgency in the message. He turned to Geoff, nodding, "I want regular updates. Keep me posted, Dielheart, make sure noone betrays me, double-crosses me or fails me. Cerberus will become strong, and we will lead humanity to supremacy." And with that, Geoff Dielheart nodded, cutting the connection.

"Patch him through," TIM ordered and was answered with the Broker's voice booming in through the terminal infront of him, voice masked and as synthetic as ever.

"Illusive Man, I hate to protrude on your business but I've hit a small obstacle," the Broker announced upon entry, "One that could create serious problems for both of us."

TIM frowned, "Then its not a small obstacle is it?"

"I have not here to play word games with you Illusive Man, but this problem could potentially destroy our partnership," the Broker growled, and TIM found himself listening with all ears, "Shepard has reached Illium, I'm sure your agents there have informed you, but I doubt they told you that Liara T'Soni has a lead on me. I don't know how, I don't know from who, but she's acquired information that could lead her to me...and possibly you."

TIM leaned forward, suddenly worried, but not showing it in his synthetic eyes, "I thought you had one of your best agents watching her and making sure she didn't get too close; why hasn't she moved in and killed the asari?"

"She tried, almost succeeded, and failed," the Broker growled, sounding extremely angry as his voice rose to a new crescendo, "Tela Vasir is dead. She could have succeeded, but Shepard intervened, fought her, and killed her. What's left of the agents I put under her command is hiding and waiting for orders, and I'm preparing to spring Shepard when I can. T'Soni may have a lead on me, but she will not be able to assault my base without a good team, and that team will collapse without Shepard. We cannot afford to get picky now, Illusive Man, the compromization of our organizations hangs on a thin thread. I will not sit idly while Shepard helps her get closer and closer," the Broker seemed to stand up, he could hear it in the message.

"Shepard has to die; he must be eliminated, dealt with, and silenced where he can cause no more problems for us. There are more likely others who can deal with the Reaper threat. Garrus Vakarian and Tali'Zorah vas Normandy show extreme potential as possible successors. Except for Miss Zorah, who will not be available, but Vakarian should be extremely capable of dealing with the Reapers. You don't need Shepard; my agents will move in, ambush him, and take him out."

_Except Miss Zorah...and why is that?_

"And why will Miss Zorah be unavailable?" TIM asked.

A shift in the seat of the Broker, the man sounding like he didn't want anyone else to hear, "Because she will be dead as well. Shepard and those he loves must be dead for this plan to succeed. Miss Zorah would find great motivation it helping T'Soni if she knew my agents killed her beloved Shepard. Eliminating her would help both of us in the long run. However, I don't have the men to execute such a task..."

TIM shifted in his seat this time, immediately catching on to the Broker's suggestion.

"...But I do," TIM pondered. Yes, he had agents in the Illium Police that were armed. Yes, he could send them to kill Miss Zorah at a moment's notice. Problem was, when? "When would you suggest such an action?"

"Immediately," the Broker declared, "Kill them while they're still unprepared. We attack simultaneously, so that they can't aid each other and once both of their corpses are rotting in the ground, we can deal with T'Soni."

 _Eliminating Shepard will be difficult. I spent billions bringing him back, to make sure he could calculate and defeat the Reaper threat. I brought him back because he was an artist on the battlefield and a politician in the conference room. His ability is unlike anything I've ever seen in one man, one person, in one thing. He is the symbolism of what it means to be human, and he is the hero the galaxy needs. But I must kill him to stop both of us from being compromised..._ TIM appeared to glare at the holographic panel, contemplating his next words.

_Ultimately, it must be done. Shepard wishes to destroy the Reapers, while I want them controlled, and our ideals are far too widespread to connect; there will always be conflict between both of us. It cannot be helped; he is far too soft, where I am far too realistic. A spent billions to bring him back, and now I must send the message to_ _**send** _ _him back. It must be done. I must be strong for humanity; I must make Cerberus what Shepard couldn't be._

"Very well," TIM agreed, "I will contact my agents within the Nos Astra Police and have them tail Shepard and ambush him. You're men take out Shepard, and mine will deal with Miss Zorah. Ambush; quick and clean, get it done, and then get out. Dealing with T'Soni will be left to another time, but with Shepard and Zorah out of the picture, Vakarian will be left in charge, but he won't be much of a threat to us..."

"Excellent. We shall speak again soon; Shepard might die, but we still have a Reaper threat to deal with. Until then...," and with that, the connection was cut, the holographic screen vanishing and leaving the Illusive Man to his thoughts. He had just agreed to killing Shepard, to assassinating humanity's idol and only hope to stopping the Reapers.

_I will be what humanity needs me to be. They won't like, neither will the Alliance, but in the end, it will be done. Once Shepard and Zorah are dead, I will lure the Orizaba into dock and have Hannah Shepard eliminated as well. When the Montgomery is completed, I will have her repainted in Migrant Fleet colors, have Kai Leng onboard, and send them to take care of Admiral Raan and Admiral Gerrel; Xen I can use, and Koris will fall in line. With that done, all will run smoothly. I just hope the Broker's contact in the fleet is reliable...and that he doesn't find out about the fate of his life's desire..._

The Illusive Man picked up his cigarette, took a whiff, and gazed back at Anadius with intent. The galaxy was full of unlikables, but it took people like him to push on...

...and a few people to disappear.

**"The fight of our lives began that day."**

**\- Tali'Shepard pav Rannoch.**

**"Damn right. Hard to hide from someone who knows everything about you, and even harder to shoot them when they've mastered the game of hide-and-seek. In the end, the Shadow Broker, aside from the Reapers, had to be deadliest enemy we had ever faced."**

**\- Marcus Shepard.**

**"But he had a 'near-Shepard experience.'"**

**Tali'Shepard pav Rannoch (chuckles).**

**"That he did."**

**\- Marcus Shepard.**

_**A/N:** _

_**Hyped? I know I am! This is where chapter posting will really start to die down, and I doubt I'll even get in another chapter this week, but I will try my best. I have to study hard for Year 10, so fanfiction will have to be pushed to the side. But remember...this is nowhere near over. This story will never die as long as I'm breathing. Requiem will continue and end, as will the sequel, which is so long, I'm considering splitting it into two parts (Its that long!)** _


	11. Like JFK, They Said

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Tali and Kasumi enjoy drinks at the Eternity bar, only for Cerberus to make an attempt on their lives. Shepard and Zaeed are ambushed by the Shadow Broker's forces.

**REQUIEM**

**CHAPTER TEN:**

**LIKE JFK, THEY SAID**

_October 18, 2185_

_1310 hours._

_Eternity Bar, Business District, Nos Astra, Illium._

_Chief Engineer Tali'Zorah vas Normandy, Master Thief Kasumi Goto, Matriarch Aethyta._

Tali looked at her drink like it was the most fascinating thing in the universe; like it  _was_ universe. And she focused on nothing else, just the drink, just the little world that was encompassed in it. Bubbles appeared and disappeared as the drink fizzled, the dark purple color offsetting its alcoholic nature. The top brimmed and popped up and sizzled, made up of chemicals most likely only available on dextro worlds.

And Tali was going to drink it; or  _was_ , at least.

They had gone shopping for a bit, seen a few of the stores, but it had mostly been clothing stores, Kasumi wanting to desperately keep the quarian away from her affinities like technology stores, and more towards what she called 'girly' things; like jewellery, clothing, makeup, all of that. Stuff that Tali didn't even need.  _Its all a waste of resources anyway,_ she had told herself.

And now they both sat at the eternity bar, sitting before the counter on high-standing stools, facing inwards, with two drinks in hand. Aethyta had recognized them from last visit, and from what Tali gathered on the woman, she was a really nice person. Compared to most asari, anyway, Liara being an exception, along with Samara. Her father was a krogan too, which explained her aggressive personality to those trying to rough up her bar.

Soft, yet mind-ripping, ear-drumming, calm music echoed through the area, a restuarant like area to the right where men could sit and could free asari lap dances or private shows, along with more behind her for the more reserved people. Eternity was somewhat peaceful, which is why Tali and Kasumi decided to spend their shore leave here.

Marcus had set them both a message not too long ago about an attempt on Liara's life, and how the Shadow Broker was involved. She almost shot up to go help when she heard about engaging an assassin, but when she saw it was taken care of, she calmed down. He also stated that he had spoken to Liara, and after calming her down, she had agreed to pay for the Normandy's repairs; they were going to be here for at least a week, so as of then, the whole crew was on shore leave.

She was afraid the SB might try and harm Marcus again and had insisted on him taking an escort; he eventually caved, agreeing to let Zaeed protect him, who did so without objection, stating he had no use for 'shore leave.'

"You going to drink that or do I need to concoct another drink?" Aethyta's voice broke Tali's reverie, making the quarian look up and look at the matriarch, who was looking at her with a frown. She didn't know what to say,  _had_ nothing to say. She looked dumbly at the asari, who stood there waiting for an answer, hands braced against the bar.

Kasumi came to her rescue though, rushing over to the quarian's side and giving Aethyta the biggest, warmest smile she could muster, "She'll drink it; she's just giving into nostalgia. We had one  _hell_ of a fun day, didn't we Tals!?" She turned to Tali, a gleam in her eye. The engineer secretly rolled her eyes.  _Oh ha ha. What's that funny human term...you're a riot? I think that's it._

"Yeah, really memorable," Tali replied with an enthusiasm she didn't feel, finally picking up her drink, taking out her straw, sticking it into the drink and into her vocalizer, and beginning to sip, "Best day of my life." She couldn't help the sarcasm at the end.  _I won't pretend._

The thief rolled her own eyes, gaze switching to the matriarch, who wasn't even looking at her. She tried to gain the asari's attention, but all she got was the asari's loud and resigned, "Oh fuck me twice. Not this idiot again."

Tali and Kasumi frowned at the same time, both turning to the source of the matriarch's annoyance. A young, human man with a short, puffy white beard and calm blue eyes was arguing with an asari stripper, who didn't seem all too amused about her lap dance shift being interrupted. He didn't look particularly strong or intimidating, and his face was eerily familiar. He wore what looked to be a cheap replica of N7 armor from two years ago, almost reminding her of Marcus. He looked ridiculous in it, and the replica assault rifle on his back and cheap predator pistol didn't help his image.

_He actually looks kinda cute..._

The man waved off the asari, shoving past her and shouting at the matriarch, his words unintelligable. Aethyta looked pissed, eyebrows furrowing in deep frustration and anger. And as the man came closer, Tali recognized him. She had seen him two years ago in the Dark Star Lounge during the Saren's campaign, during one of their shore leaves.

Conrad Verner; her boyfriend's  _biggest_ fan.

He stopped at the bar, turning to the two girls at the table and smiling, winking and clicking his tongue in an attempt to look cool, "Hey ladies; what are you two doing at a place like this?"

Tali didn't even answer as she rolled her eyes, just looking at him in his N7 armor that didn't fit him. Kasumi just giggled, also choosing not to answer. Conrad flashed them both another wink, before turning back to the bar and at Aethyta, who was glowing with a biotic aura, "Lady, you already know who I am, so lets cut to business." His attempts at intimidation fell low.  _Damn this kid is a real tryhard...who does he think he is? Who is he..._

Marcus. He's trying to be like Marcus.

_Oh keelah...this'll be hilarious..._

Aethyta barked with laughter, "Yeah, and I told you it was a load of shit. I also told you I'd slap your ass with a singularity if you turned up in my bar again; you're pushing your luck, kid."

"I'm no kid!" Conrad replied with a squeak, "I am Commander Shepard, Alliance Navy, Hero of the Citadel! And I am here to take the deed for this bar! I know you're selling red sand; an informant working with the police told me!"

Aethyta tried to look serious as she leaned forward, "Really? Then it looks like you've caught me; arrest me, commander! I sell red sand! I should never have trusted this mysterious woman; I shall have to do some cleaning up!"

"Damn right," Conrad replied, grin triumphant.

Tali was on the verge of facepalming...if she could,  _Keelah, he's so dense. He doesn't even recognize sarcasm when he sees it...should I just call him out on his crap? Actually, no, I'd like to see this bosh'tet embarass himself alittle more...if only Marcus was here..._

Aethyta decided to stop yanking him around, tone and face serious, "Listen boy, I do not sell red sand here.  _Not in my bar._ I do not tolerate druggos, and if I ever caught one sniffin' in my bar, I'd reave him or her into an early grave. And even if I did, I'd be perfectly within my right to sell it. This isn't the fucking Citadel you dolt, its  _Illium._ In the  _Terminus Systems._ Its perfectly  _legal_ to sell red sand here, just not unregistered or without a permit."

"Ah!" Conrad pointed forward, "But you  _don't_ have a permit!"

"Because I don't  _sell_ the stuff, dickhead," Aethyta replied, "Now get the fuck out before I call police."

"My informant-"

"Probably isn't an informant," Aethyta spat, pointing out the door, "Did you ever  _consider_  or  _comprehend_ the idea that she may be a rival competitor trying to shut me down and is using your stupid, gullible ass to help? Did you  _ever think of that?_ No, you wouldn't have, because  _you're a tool._ You stupid ass fool."

"Insults are nothing to me," Conrad replied, "I am Commander-"

Tali finally decided to put an end to this situation, "No, you're not."

Conrad spun to face her, as did Aethyta, with a smile, "See, evidence from the source. Now get out kid."

"Who the hell are you?" Conrad replied, voice trying to be harsh but failing as his voice seemed to break, "You-you don't dictate who I am! I don't even know you! You're just some...quarian!"

"Of course you don't know me. Because you're not Commander Shepard," Tali insisted, Kasumi barely containing a fit of giggles as she slapped Tali's arm with humor.  _Humans._ Conrad looked at her, gaze confused, so she could continued, "If you're Commander Shepard, you should know this. What were the names of all the people on your squad during the Skyllian Blitz?"

"I-I don't know..." Conrad scratched the back of his neck, "Hard to remember..."

"What's your favourite rifle?" Tali asked.

"Diamond Back of course!" Conrad replied, grin forming and his posture suddenly more confident. Tali almost beat herself internally.  _No! Wrong question, anyone could research that...something unknown..._

She smiled at the thought as she brought it up, "Who are your best friends...?"

Conrad's smile almost dropped, but he kept it for appearence's sake, but she saw the color drain from his cheeks, "As-Ashley...Williams a-a-and Kaidan Alenko!"

Tali sighed.  _Keelah, really?_ _ **Just**_ _the humans? Typical._  She laughed as she picked up her drink and chugged it, "Well, you're not Commander Shepard, because you got all but one question wrong."

Conrad slammed his hand down on the bar, the force making her barely shudder, "How  _dare_ you question me! I think I know who I am! I am Commander Shepard, and I-"

"Say my name."

Conrad was dumbfounded and everyone looked at Tali with a raised eyebrow, "I...what?"

"You heard me," Tali turned to him, look amused, but hidden from the ridiculous man, "Say. My. Name."

"I don't-"

"Here's a hint. One of the Heroes of the Citadel," Tali hinted.

"I-"

"Starts with a T."

"I still-"

Tali slammed a credit chit on the bar, put her drink down and slid it away, standing up to tower over Conrad, which surprised even her.  _Keelah, he's_ _ **small**_ _..._ Her words were not hostile or kind, just neutral as she finished.

"I think the real Commander Shepard would know the name of his own  _girlfriend_."

The color completely drained from the man's cheeks this time and he backed away, slowly, "I-wow! Really!?  _ **You're Commander Shepard's lady love!?**_ " And Tali wasn't kidding when she thought he  _squealed._

_I'm convinced he was a girl in his previous life._

He moved forward, all evidence of his facade gone as Aethyta calmed down, leaning back against her bar and moving to serve Kasumi another drink, who had skulled hers subconsciously while observing the clash between Not-Marcus and Tali. He held out a notepad, with a pen in the other hand, devices rarely used in the current age as he shoved them into her grip, "Could I  _please_ have your autograph! My wife won't believe me if I told her I met  _the_ Commander Shepard's secret-lover! I simply  _need_ to have it!"

"I-"

"Please?"

"I don't-"

_"Please?"_

"Conrad!"

The man look flustered and annoyed, "What?"

"I can't write human," Tali replied, "I can only write in khelish."

"But you're speaking english right now!" Conrad replied.

"That's your translator translating my words into your language so you can understand me," Tali replied, "I'm speaking khelish. My translator is translating your words into khelish so I can understand you."

Conrad looked sad and was about to ask if she could sign her autograph anyway when a gunshot rang out and screaming was heard.

The world was a blur as Tali glanced down, Conrad flying backwards at the sight and Kasumi screaming at her, but the quarian couldn't here her; she only looked down. She let her eyes travel down her body to their destination...

...where they landed on a suit puncture, a gunshot having pierced her side and red blood oozing out of the wound and coating her veil. Her suit was already sealing the breach and injecting medi-gel into the wound, but it didn't stop the shock in her body. She glanced back up, eyes landing on her attackers; eight police officers, all human, one holding a smoking predator pistol at her, and looked to be preparing to fire again.

He never got the chance as a biotic warp hit him in the head, the force tearing his head clear off his shoulders and causing it to spread a trail of dark crimson blood as it flew through the air to land at his comrades' feet, his body just falling to the ground, pistol still in his grip as he collapsed, dead. His comrades split like rabbits, both repulsed by their ally's decapitation and to prepare for the coming fight. The screaming almost ceased as people fled, dancers and drinkers alike fleeing out the front entrance.

Pain finally lanced through her side as Tali got over her shock, the marine wasting no time in dropping her Tali facade, and melting into her role of Brigadier General Zorah. She had no weapons, so she had to think on her feet, immediately opening her omni-tool and deploying Chiktika at the same time.

"Go Chiktika!" Tali shouted, "Aim for the eyes, Chiktika, good girl!" She watched as her drone shot over a railing, zapping at one of the rogue officers and causing him to straighten up to shoot at the drone, only for Aethyta to ram into him with a biotic charge, the asari sending the man smashing into a wall, most likely causing his bones to  _explode_ with the impact of it.

Kasumi melted into the background, the young thief using her cloak to dive behind the enemy and surprise, Tali's role clearly being a diversion. With a smile, the quarian ran out and into the open, drawing the attention of three of their assailants, the three officers raising SMGs at her. The middle one had his throat slit, and the other met his end with a footsweep, followed by a 'shadow strike' as Kasumi termed it, while the third, who turned to face Kasumi, found Tali's boot knife firmly inside the back of his neck, Tali ripping it out and kicking his lifeless body forward and onto the ground. The thief gave her a nod.

They spun to deal with the rest of their enemy, but as they did, Aethyta came burning around the corner, wreathed in biotic fire as she locked onto her enemies and her face creased into anger, " _ **Get the fuck out of my bar!"**_ And with that, she picked up what was left of the rogue officers and tossed them out a window, tumbling to their deaths.

Kasumi smiled happily, the fight having died out. Aethyta relaxed, her biotics evaporating as she turned to the two of them and then to Conrad, who was still hiding in the corner, not even trying to help them as he cowered. Aethyta walked up to him, pinched his arm and told him to get up, "Come on, sit up you big baby. You sound like a babe demanding her mother's teat."

Kasumi was suddenly at Tali's side, examining her wound, but the quarian shrugged her off, "I'm fine, seriously. My suit sealed up the breach, and the worst I'll get is a heightened fever, nothing to worry over. I'll go check with Chakwas later, but we have to warn Marcus."

"Why?" Kasumi asked, but then it hit her, "You think its the Shadow Broker again?"

"More than likely," Tali opened her omni-tool and immediately hit Marcus' icon on her contact list, desperately hoping for him to pick up.

_Come on you bosh'tet..._

**{Loading...}**

_October 18, 2185_

_1310 hours._

_Market Place, Business District, Nos Astra, Illium._

_Commander Marcus Lee Shepard, Mercenary Veteran Zaeed Massani._

The market was a bustle of activity; almost every member of every species milling about in the area, moving from store to store, table to table, man to man, woman to woman...it was the ultimate multi-species market. Nos Astra's market place was almost like that of markets back on Earth, but not nearly as multiracial.

Marcus and Zaeed basically had to squeeze through the crowds, trying to find the right stores in the mess of multi-species; asari, turians, salarians, volus, elcor, hanar, drell, even a few krogan, all mixing in, along with alot of humans. Zaeed was only there because Tali insisted he bring an escort, and Jack and Zaeed were the only ones not really doing anything. Jack was still pissed with him over his rejection of her, so the bounty hunter was the logical option. Besides, Zaeed didn't look... _that_ bored...

Finally, the both of them got through, and Marcus looked back at Zaeed, giving him an exaggerated grin. As he did though, and looking at the way Zaeed appeared to cradle his fixed assault rifle, his grin just grew bigger. Word travelled fast throughout the ship about Kal fixing Zaeed's assault rifle, Jessie, and he had become a 'legend' because of it; getting the grizzled merc to thank someone for anything was worthy of a galactic record, let alone legendary status. The quarian had been alot more popular after that.

Now Zaeed carried Jessie everywhere with him, even to the point where he would always have it unholstered, just holding it in his hands, admiring the grip and slender frame of the obsolete weapon; Zaeed deciding to keep the old mass effect mass acellerator instead of replacing it with a thermal clip heat sink.

Zaeed, noticing the spectre's wide grin, looked at him with a frown, "What the fuck are you laughing at? What is it about squeezing through crowds that you find so goddamn amusing?"

He just laughed, "Its not that, its your obsession with that rifle. You won't put it down for one  _second._ I'd swear you're in love."

Zaeed spat, "Love is for goddamn romance stories...or you and that quarian with the excellent ass. Jessie is my comrade, my only true comrade, and as long as I have her at my side, I'll be sure to tear my enemies, and yours, a bloody new hole to fuck with."

Marcus groaned, turning forward, "Thanks for that image, Zaeed."

"Oh, grow some fuckin' balls, will ya," the mercenary, "You sound like a goddamn pup."

"Watch who you're talking to merc," Marcus replied, both of them moving towards a store selling jewellery, the N7 smiling as he did at his coming joke, "You're talking to the man who killed Saren Arterius and sent a Human-Reaper straight to hell. I'll kick your ass."

Zaeed guffawed, "Aye, with goddamn style, I'd expect. You and that Vakarian; the two brothers-in-arms, and then that quarian, with her shotgun, drone and badass fucking attitude. You've found the good ones Shepard, I'd say you're goddamn lucky. I've fought with people I thought were my 'comrades,' and everyone of them would kill me in a second for a hope of more credits. Keep 'em close, and your enemies at gunpoint, I say."

"Wise knowledge from a mercenary who befriends his rifle," Marcus jested, ignoring the merc's 'hey!' as he moved into the jewellery. He stopped when Zaeed suddenly exclaimed, "What the fuck is this? Don't tell me you're turning into a goddamn woman, Shepard. I might feel a little less intimidated."

He turned to the merc, raising an eyebrow, "For someone else. Besides, are you being sexist, Zaeed?"

The mercenary simply scoffed, as if unable to comprehend such nonsense, "Hell no, its just who I am. I've had my ass whooped by an asari before, and before that I almost got choked to death by a hanar girl, so I'm well-aware of the powers of the girls."

Marcus almost tripped when he heard 'hanar girl.' He looked back at Zaeed, dumbfounded, "Hanar  _girls?_ I had no idea hanar even had  _genders!_ "

Zaeed sighed, not meeting the spectre's gaze, "Neither did I...Goddamn it, now you made me remember a bunch of useless shit. Get the fuck in there, buy your fucking earrings, and lets get the hell out of here. Just being this close to this store makes me want to rip a krogan's crest off."

"Try not to kill anyone," Marcus suggested before disappearing into the store, the mercenary's only response being a rough grunt before Zaeed turned to act as a guard of the store, ignoring the glares of two security guards across from him. Marcus took awhile, looking through the many isles of jewellery before, forty-five minutes later, he found what he wanted, paid for it, pocketed it, and left, Zaeed moving in behind him.

They reintegrated with the crowds, both of them moving towards a weapons store, that apparently Zaeed was interested in. Why he was, was beyond Marcus, as the mercenary didn't seem to want to use any weapon other than this precious Jessie, but that wasn't up to Marcus to judge as they moved towards the store, stopping outside to admire the many pistols, assault rifles, shotguns, sniper rifles and sub machine guns.

They only had low-rate, non-military authorized weapons, and nothing like anti-material rifles, heavy anti-vehicle weaponry, or high-tech assault rifles. Most of them were predator pistols, avenger assault rifles, viper marksman rifles, katana shotguns and Shuriken SMGs. Nothing that the two would be interested in.

"This shit would be useless to anyone who wasn't a goddamn volus," Zaeed complained, taking a moment to think over what he said before chuckling at him, slamming Marcus in the back at the realization of his own joke, "Volus soldiers... _now that_ would be a sight to see."

"That it would," Marcus responded, trying to envision volus troops.  _Bowling balls with assault rifles, charging any strongholds and they constantly kept tripping over, with their short, fat, stubby legs, the volus dropping like flies as a single suit breach caused them to pop like balloons; open-air exposure causing their skin to split and deflate._ The imagery was sick, but Marcus couldn't help but find some kind of sick humor in it.  _And they won't stand a chance when the Reapers land on their worlds, land on Irune..._

...he disposed of that thought  _very quickly._

"Come on. Should probably get back to the Normandy before your quarian starts to worry too much," Zaeed joked, turning to the skycar at the end of the market as they both began to move, "I don't understand why she'd be worried though; I'm pretty sure you kicked Vasir's sweet asari ass, so you're probably safer than anyone. Its the T'Soni girl you should be worried about."

"Vasir isn't the only operative at the Broker's disposal," Marcus replied seriously, "And with the Broker knowing I killed Vasir, he'll most likely know I'm a threat and make efforts to eliminate me, and in my current state, I'd be defenseless, hence your presence. And I couldn't bring my own weapons and armor because it'd draw too much attention. Have to keep myself low-key; at least until the Normandy's repairs are complete and we can leave. Liara says she's fine, but she'll be coming with us. Can't risk the Broker trying to kill her again."

"Damn right," Zaeed replied, "But I saw what that girl did on the news, during that car chase. She can take care of herself, no doubt about that."

"So can I," he replied cryptically, not even turning to the mercenary, "Yet you're still here."

They continued silently towards the skycar, but were stopped when Marcus heard a salarian cry out behind him, both of them turning as he ran up to them, eyes wide and waving his arm up above him. They stopped, turning to face the man as he caught up with them and stopped inches from them, huffing and puffing. He looked up, the salarian's blackened face wiping clean with a broad smile.

"Commander Shepard!" the salarian shouted, "I just wanted to congratulate you on how you defeated the Collectors."

Marcus smiled, but it didn't reach his eyes.  _How does he know about that? The Collector extinction isn't widespread news yet. Maybe he got wind of Delan's smear campaign, or another source told him._ But as he looked out of the corner of his eye, and noticing Zaeed's skeptical frown, his doubts began to eat away at him.

"Thank you...?" Marcus trailed off, but the salarian didn't seem to catch on, so he continued, ableit minus the eye roll, "What's your name?"

"Oh, nothing important..." There was a gleam in the salarian's eye, "At least not anymore..."

That gleam told Marcus all he needed to know and in a heartbeat, as the salarian stepped to the side, the spectre recognizing the idea from his mission to help Garrus almost a month ago, he raised a biotic field infront of him and deflected a sniper shot; the field seeming to flash as the round disintegrated upon impact with his field. Zaeed reacted with lightning speed, the mercenary grabbing the salarian's throat, bringing him closer...

...and then shoving his omni-bow into his chest and firing, the salarian giving out a quick choking sound before his torso exploded in a drainage of green blood, bits of the salarian's ribcage and spine blowing out with the gore from the force of the impact as Zaeed tossed the man's body away carelessly, his shields shrugging off another sniper round as both of them leapt into cover, crowd scattering as a panic arose.

With only his biotics to defend himself, Marcus was in a tight spot. He peeked over his cover to see a dozen black-armoured forms rushing through the market towards them, but didn't get to see more as another sniper round hit his cover, almost ripping open his skull if he hadn't turned back at the last second. He cursed as he turned to Zaeed.

The bounty hunter was waiting for his shields to recharge as he lowered Jessie, weapon in one hand as the other grabbed an incendiary grenade from his belt, primed it and lobbed it...all without checking for civilians... _He'll never change...but that doesn't mean I won't try to change him..._

The grenade impacted just infront of the armed squad of mercenaries, a raging inferno blocking their path as they tried to think of other options. Marcus checked again, identifying salarians, turians and a few humans.  _Black Armor. Shadow Broker mercs. I heard he had a private army, but this is ridiculous. Their stance, weaponry, tactical awareness...these aren't standard mercenaries and they're not Blue Suns...these are properly-trained operatives..._

_...and they want me dead..._

He tried to consider his options, but never got a chance as Zaeed rolled out from his cover, a steady beat of gunfire erupting from his rifle as he opened up on the Broker's mercs, catching them completely offguard. His fire steadily wittled down the shields of the lead salarian, tearing through him and a final shot hitting him in the head, only for the other salarian to raise his tech armor, blocking Zaeed's further rains of bullets.

The mercs quickly regained themselves, lowered their rifles and opened fire. A sporadic swarm of bullets rained on Zaeed, and his shields were decimated immediately. Marcus tried to yell, but his voice caught in his throat, only able to watch as the bounty hunter's shields sparked and died, and rounds began tearing into him.

The first shot hit him in the side, barely fazing the mercenary as he yelled his war cry, the same one he yelled when chasing Vido on Zorya, all the while holding the trigger of Jessie and giving the mercs as much as they gave. A second shot tore through his left, another his right. Zaeed yelled out as one shot blew through his left leg, right below the knee, causing him to fall to one knee. Another shot hit in him in the same leg's foot, causing him to wince as he desperately kept firing, blood pooling...

Shot after shot smashed into the man, yet he still kept firing, non-stop. Bullets hit every part of his body below the shoulders; belly, legs, feet, arms, hands, everything. The mercenary was practically swimming in blood by the time the 'final' bullet hit, slamming into his skull, and Marcus almost froze.

...and just like before, the shot barely fazed him, the mercenary just kept firing. By the time he was finally done, all the mercenaries had fallen, one final lucky bastard catching him in the jaw, the shot going through Zaeed's open mouth and out through the back, a blast of blood exploding through the back of his head.

Covered in blood and wounds, and his adrenaline running out, Zaeed dropped Jessie, now overheated, collapsed onto his knees, and finally fell onto face first into the cold, steel ground, unconscious. Marcus rushed towards Zaeed, ignoring the sniper bullets that tried to hit him, moving with speed only his cybernetics could gift him. Even as he did, he saw more mercenaries coming, at least another two dozen, and by the time he grabbed Zaeed's limp body and pulled him to safety and hiding, the mercs were all over their original position.

Marcus sent a distress call to Miranda, hoping his second-in-command could send backup in time. Meanwhile, he applied medi-gel to Zaeed's wounds, the nearby, hiding civilians helping him out as the tried to clog Zaeed's serious injuries. They were astounded by Zaeed's skull and jaw bullet holes and were surprised he was still breathing. Marcus grinned, looking down at the mercenary and looked back at them, replying, "Rage is one hell of an anasthetic."

With people tending to Zaeed and keeping him unconscious but stable, Marcus peeled Jessie from his hands and looked outside, watching as mercs went from store to store, searching for them. Well, they would. Just not alive. He took all of Zaeed's incendiary grenades as well.

And then presence of the box in his pocket became painfully present. He remembered who would not be just broken, but destroyed, if he died again.  _I won't fail her again; I'm going to come back. I will not die. I_ _ **won't allow**_ _it._ With his newly formed conviction, he marched forth and out of the store, and onto the streets.

The two dozen mercenary squads were still searching the stores, leaving only half of squad outside, along with the concealed sniper nearby. Moving quickly and quietly, and hopefully unnoticed, he primed an incendiary grenade, moved behind cover and then tossed it behind him, hoping it hit his target.

He was rewarded with a ear-splitting boom as the explosive detonated at the mercs' feet, the flames consuming all around it. A salarian screamed as he was enveloped, the merc desperately trying to tame the flames but failing as he fell to the ground, still burning; skin cracking and splitting and blackening. The others didn't fair any better, with only two mercs having survived the explosion. It was enough.

They weren't ready for him when he popped out of cover, and Zaeed's assault rifle came to life in Marcus' hands, Jessie emptying hot, acellerated death on its enemies, the shots ripping through the merc's shields, and quickly downing him in a pool of his own blood, and the other fared no better, but was finished with a headshot.

Just as Marcus whirled around, a sniper shot whizzed past  _inches_ from his face and impacted the ground beside him, pinging off the steel ground. He rolled into cover, not seeing the merc that was rushing out of the store to see the commotion, and barelled into her, the merc's missile launcher slipping from her hands as she fell, face first. The spectre quickly regained his bearings and spun, emptying a pocket of shots into the merc's back and waiting for his weapon to cooldown as he assumed cover.

By now, most of the Shadow Broker's mercenary forces had mostly become back out of the stores and knew he was there, and the sniper was  _definitely aware._ As he was about to peek over his cover, a roar of gunfire began to assault his position, with boxes and glasses and many other things exploding as the bullets tore into his cover, pinning him. Or they  _would_ pin him, if he hadn't been a  _biotic._

Raising a biotic barrier around himself, he charged out, weapon raised, and watched the enemy fire ping harmlessly off his azure shield. He got an estimation for their numbers; at least eighteen of them, which meant a quarter of their number was gone. But that could change at any moment, depending on how many mercs the Broker had under his command in Nos Astra.  _Could be any amount for all I know..._

He rushed forth, wanting to get up close and personal; the mercs might be well-trained with weapons and tactics, but when it came to hand-to-hand, an N7  _would always_ win. He brought Jessie down in a swinging motion, the butt of the rifle ramming into the helmet of another female human merc, cracking the helmet and causing her to reel back, her shotgun pointing downwards. He didn't halt, instead grabbing her shotgun, twisting it upwards...and blowing the woman's head clean off her neck, leaving a gaping gap where her face used to be, now just bits of skin and an eye hanging out. He pushed her to the side, using his biotics to pick up her body and fling it at a group of charging asari, who fell from the blow.

He spun around and ducked, dodging the right hook that one salarian had tried to deliver and activated his omni-blade, ramming it into the salarian's belly. Green blood poured out and the salarian gave a choked gasp, green blood pooling around his amphibian lips and beginning to drip. Marcus pulled the blade out, spun around and brought the blade back down in a swing, opening a huge slit from ear to ear across the salarian's neck, more of the alien's blood spilling out as he fell to the ground, tech armor rendered useless.

He disabled his biotic barrier, feeling the wear begin to kick in. He brought up his omni-shield just in time to deflect another sniper round, but faltered as one asari managed to send a shockwave into him, sending him falling onto his back, unable to keep his distance. One of the merc's was quick to his side, raising her pistol, but he was quicker; his cybernetics made sure of that. His hand shot up, wrenching the weapon from her grip and causing her to cry out in pain. Raising Zaeed's rifle with one hand, he emptied a burst into the woman's face at point-blank, painting his face with purple blood.

He spat it out, expecting a coppery taste, but instead getting something akin to rotten, bitter fruit. He pushed himself up, wincing as a shot grazed him, leaving a scratch along his side where the bullet passed by. He raised his orange shield of light again, deflecting yet another sniper shot and turned to look at the enemy group, who was still converging around him.

 _Time to stop messing around...what was that technique Jack showed me?_ Thinking about her was painful, but he pushed those away as he remembered, letting dark energy channel through him as he summoned his biotic abilities. And with his omni-shield still equipped, he shot his hand forward, firing a giant, pulsing blue missile of biotic light towards the center of the mercenary squad...

The sound of it colliding and impacting the enemy was almost like the sound of lightning, a giant  **crack** of noise as the biotic missile impacted and exploded in brilliant white light, the force of the blast almost sending Marcus falling backwards, the explosion not warming him up with its heat, but freezing him to the bone with its  _cold ferocity._

He looked back up to see that anyone in the vicinity of the blast, or the one impacted by it, had either lost limbs, was screaming due to the eezo exposure, or was completely vaporized. Everyone else had been sent flying, leaving a grand total of only eleven mercs left, all of them still stunned, but quickly getting up. He smiled, raising his omni-shield in an almost phalanx like way, his rifle atop like the spear of a greek pikeman.

 _Flare. That has to be the most lethal biotic ability I've ever used...not even Reave could compare to that..._ Images of Kaira Stirling back on Noveria popped up in his mind, and he forced them back to the corners of his mind, not needing those thoughts right now.  _Fight them off; there's only eleven...shouldn't be that-_

He remembered too late.

The sniper's weapon cracked, and the shot penetrated Marcus in the side, causing him to collapse to the side from the force of the round, the man judging the weapon as a Mantis or Incisor Sniper rifle; a Widow or Black Widow would have ripped his torso clean from his body. He tried to stand up, but the pain was immense, and there was only so much that his new 'regeneration' abilities could do, and they were slow working, nowhere near the standard of a krogan or vorcha.

The mercs gathered around, ready to finish him off...

...and then the sound of a approaching vehicle, a truck by the sound of it, and the spectre looked up, as did the mercenaries. Marcus looked up in silent wander as the truck turned its rear to the mercs and the spectre, before the door opened...

...followed by a swarm of gunshots as shields cracked and blew apart and four mercs fell from the unexpected barrage, all weapons turning to the new threat. Marcus smiled as he saw Garrus leading the attack, with Jacob, Kaidan, Grunt and Legion leading the assault. The geth's pulse rifle spewed purple death as its hyper acellerated ripped through the mercs' armor like they were made of plastic, melting it and making them scream as the musket-like rounds tore up their insides and ripped their bodies apart; a display of the power of geth weaponry.

The unidentified sniper fired again, the shot impacting Grunt in the hip, but barely fazing the krogan as he only seemed to growl, only annoyed by the shot that would have been lethal for most species... _Only Grunt. Only...actually, I guess all krogan are like that. Wrex proved that._ Marcus smiled as he slowly limped over to the truck, watching it slowly descend.

Another shot, impacting Garrus' shields and causing him to grunt, the turian spinning to the geth infiltrator next to him, "Legion, get rid of that damn sniper."

"Affirmative," Legion replied, the geth leaping off the truck and landing with a thud, another merc trying to hit the geth, only for it to ping harmlessly off the machine and for Legion's hand to shoot out, grasping the merc's throat and pulling them upwards. The geth twitched its hand and fingers, and the merc stopped struggling, neck snapped as the machine dropped its limp body, the emotionless AI holstering its pulse rifle and equipping its Widow, "We recommend Vakarian-Archangel's unit to land vehicle behind building cover. Enemy sharpshooter likely to push assault; casualities a certainty-"

"We get it Legion. Just find the son of a bitch and get rid of him. Or her," Garrus shouted, motioning behind him before turning to Marcus, "Shepard! Follow us, behind the buildings!" And with that, the truck disappeared behind the buildings, Marcus went to follow, but suddenly remembered.  _Fuck...Zaeed!_

He turned back to the buildings and watched as a fresh wave of six skycars descended upon the markets, all with more Shadow Broker mercs.  _Wonderful._ He smiled however when he heard Legion's rifle crack through the air and smash the windshield of the lead car, causing it to tumble into the streets, exploding. He just hoped noone got hurt.

Moving into the building, he moved over to Zaeed's bedside, nodding at the civilians. He told them he could handle it and he rapidly slipped the man into a standing position, where he then wrapped one arm over the man's shoulders, while another held Zaeed's assault rifle. He quickly rushed outside, turning back down the street to see the mercs quickly closing and he fired at them, hoping to make them break for cover as he rushed across the street, running for the evac truck.

With Zaeed still unconscious, they broke out into the open, the truck landed, with Garrus standing at the end of the loading bay, crouched and rifle clutched in his talons. Jacob and Kaidan covered one side, Grunt and, to his surprise, Liara, guarding the other side. He moved up to the turian, who looked at Zaeed with wide eyes...

"By the spirits..." Garrus exclaimed, shocked by the bounty hunter's state. He met Marcus' eyes, and his eyes widened further, "The bastard is  _still_ alive?"

"Yep," Marcus replied curtly, pushing past the turian, ignoring his shocked comments, and handing him to Grunt, who holstered his claymore and picked up Zaeed's unconscious body like weighed a baby. He pointed to inside, and Grunt nodded, rushing inside as he turned to Liara, the asari meeting his look and nodding, a meek smile on her features, lowering her SMG. Her eyes held none of the bitterness from before.  _Switch on and off, huh?_

"Commander," he spun around in surprise at the sound of Miranda's voice, and saw that Kasumi, Samara, Kal and, still ignoring his existence, Jack as well. He noticed that out of all the ground crew, only Mordin and Tali were missing, but he quickly shrugged it off, turning to his white-uniformed XO.

"Yes Miranda?" He winced at the pain at his side, and Miranda noticed, but didn't push the issue just yet.

He frown was creased, "What happened?"

"I-we were attacked," Marcus motioned to Zaeed, who was now placed across Grunt's lap, the krogan looking blankly at a wall and ignoring Jack's jests about him being a 'babysitter', "It was all a trap; Zaeed tried to protect me, and before I could join in and help me, they had already torn him apart with gunfire. He's pretty beaten up, but he's breathing."

"We'll need a miracle to help him pull through," Miranda stated, skeptical.

"Chakwas is  _the_ miracle worker. She'll pull through, especially with Mordin's help," he grinned, slapping Miranda's arm, hand cradling his side, "Besides, you brought me back from the dead; healing a mercenary who was almost ripped apart should be tame for you."

The XO returned the grin, "You're damn right I can. Perfection, remember?"

"You keep thinking that," Marcus replied, chuckling as he turned back. He moved up to Garrus, who turned and handed him his earpiece, the turian giving him command. As the human put in the earpiece, which was far too big for him, Garrus pulled out a pack of medi-gel, opened it, knelt down and was about to apply it when Liara pushed him out of the way, taking the gel and applying it herself.

With the earpiece finally attached, he spoke, "Legion, status?"

The geth voice replied with absolute precision, "Shepard-Commander, we have eliminated the enemy sharpshooter. We are returning to your position. We have reached consensus that bypassing enemy forces instead of direct engagement is preferable. We estimate a time of arrival of about a minute and current running speed."

A gunshot, "More than enough time," Marcus replied, watching as the merc who rounded the corner collapsed from the round to his head, Garrus' rifle smoking as he slapped in a fresh thermal clip. Another one followed suit, but Miranda picked him up and slammed his flailing body into the wall hard, letting it go as it crumbled onto the ground, a broken mess.

Sixty seconds later, right on the dot, Legion landed on the ground, widow holstered for its pulse rifle. He smiled at the geth, taking out the earpiece and handing it back to Garrus, "You're right on time, Legion."

The geth cocked its head, optics flashing, "We operate at maximum effiency; we predicted a 0.75 percent chance of failure at achieving this goal."

"It was a joke Legion."

"We do not comprehend this concept."

A sigh.

"Everybody into the truck!" Marcus ordered, voice booming as Liara finished applying the medi-gel to Marcus' wound, leaving the removal of the bullet to Chakwas. They all rushed inside, Legion being last as it checked the area, careful not to let the enemy through. Once onboard, the door closed behind them, shots pinging off the hull as the truck took off, speeding down the markets and into the traffic of Nos Astra.

Marcus sighed, giving Zaeed's body a bare glance as he turned to Miranda, still confused about Tali and Mordin's absence, "Where's Mordin? And Tali? You brought the whole crew, why not them?"

"Mordin was deemed not needed for this mission. We defeated the Collectors with this team, Garrus didn't think one missing member would really negate things," Miranda stated, trailing off, "As for Tali..."

Kasumi spoke up, her voice hoarse, "We got attacked too Shep; they might have been the same people, I don't know, but they were disguised as police and they got Tali; shot her in the side. She's currently in the med bay back on the ship; Chakwas is giving her a once over."

Marcus almost shot up at that, anger flowing through him, "They...will she be alright?"

"Of course she will Shepard, Jeez!" Kaidan commented, trying to sound cheerful, "I mean...its Chakwas, come on. She's the best doctor to have ever lived. And with Mordin onboard...we could start our own hospital if we wanted to."

This didn't hamper Marcus' temper as he lost control, fists assaulting the wall of the truck as everyone watched on in anger. Subconsciously, his biotic implants flared up, blue energy encompassing him as he turned back to the group, anger flowing through him. Even Samara seemed shocked by him, but hid it behind a cool gaze.

"First they attack  _my friend_ ," Marcus shot a finger at Liara before snapping a look at Zaeed, "Then they put another one  _close to death row,_ " he then fell into the wall, biotics disappearing, "Then they attack my...my...Tali-they could have killed her..." he turned to Liara, anger boiling,  _ **"This is your fault!**_ "

Liara looked flabbergasted, not knowing what to think, "I-what?"

Garrus, of all people, stood to Liara's defense, "Let's not get hasty Shepard, she didn't-"

He looked at the turian, a fire in his eyes, " _Her vendetta_ got us into this mess! If she hadn't  _vowed to kill the Shadow Broker_ we wouldn't have had multiple attempts on our lives! Kasumi and Tali could have _ **died!**_ Zaeed  _ **could still die!**_ I  _ **almost died!**_ Hell, our  **entire team** could be in danger, bounties on our heads, because  _ **she**_ wanted revenge!"

"Shepard-" Liara tried to plead.

"You'll get your revenge Liara," Marcus growled, eyes alight with  _fire_ , "Because I'm going to tear the fucking Broker's head from his  _spine._ Noone, I  **repeat** , noone,  _ **fucks with me, noone fucks with my friends, and lives!**_ He'll die..."

"...because he just signed his death warrant."

**{Loading...}**

_October 18, 2185_

_1436 hours._

_Medical Bay, Normandy-Class Stealth Frigate Normandy SR-2, Docked with Illium Drydock._

_Commander Marcus Lee Shepard, First Lieutenant Miranda Lawson, Second Lieutenant Jacob Taylor, Staff Commander Kaidan Alenko, Major General Kal'Reegar vas Normandy, Professor Mordin Solus, Master Thief Kasumi Goto, Justicar Samara, Gunnery Master Garrus Vakarian, Legion, Subject Zero Jack, Chief Engineer Tali'Zorah vas Normandy, Soldier Urdnot Grunt, First Lieutenant Madi'Soi vas Ceresa, Assassin Thane Krios, Medical Chief Karin Chakwas._

Marcus was the first to storm in, paving the way for the rest of the group. As he entered, he immediately noticed that two beds were occupied by Madi and Tali, but noticed a bed at the far end where they could place Zaeed. Chakwas turned towards them upon arrival and was about to object but stopped short when she saw Zaeed in Grunt's arm, immediately clamping her mouth shut and directing them to the bed at the end.

The entire team filed in, Marcus watched as Grunt almost roughly dropped Zaeed's body on the bed, but was chastised by Chakwas and did it slowly. With that done, Chakwas grabbed one of the curtains and was beginning to close off Zaeed's area when Marcus put a hand on her shoulder, causing the elderly woman to look around.

"What are you doing?"

"Protecting this man's dignity and privacy," Chakwas told him, voice stern, "To get at the wounds I need to remove all clothing, which means nudity, and I'm sure noone wants to see that man naked any time soon, or him, so I'll keep him covered. Only I will see him, and that's by necessity. I suggest you see to Tali, she's been wrinkling the bed waiting for you."

"Wrinkling?" He smirked.

She sighed, "Tossing and turning, more like."

He smiled at her, patting her shoulder before looking at Zaeed, the man's eyes closed and body covered in dried blood, the man looking like he had taken a dip in an ocean of red blood, "You what you can for him, Chakwas. We've had our disagreements, but I'm not going to lose another soldier. Not after...not after Ashley."

Chakwas' grin disappeared and she swallowed, her throat dry as she nodded, her own hand on his shoulder, "You won't. Ashley died with honor, but I will not allow Zaeed to die to other mercenaries after surviving Collectors; he'd haunt me for the humiliation. I will not allow him to die, you have my word on that. You won't have another Chief Williams."

"Thank you Karin," he thanked her.

"She was about to close the curtain when she turned, giving him a raised brow, "Karin now, is it?"

He sighed, squaring his shoulders, feeling the ache in his side but ignoring it, "Has a nice ring to it; besides, we've known each other long enough."

"So we have Mark," Chakwas replied, a warm smile gracing her lips before she turned back around, pulled an equipment trolley loaded with supplies inside and slipped it closed, leaving Zaeed's life in Chakwas' hands.  _She won't let me down; if anyone can save him, its her. She's the definition of doctor._

He turned back around, worry for Tali kicking in as he rushed to her side, watching Mordin check her suit seals as the quarian observed, making sure he didn't miss anything. Seeing him approach, she turned around, a hand shooting out. He took it, squeezing it inbetween his larger, five-digit hand, concern in his features, "I heard what happened...are you okay?"

A cough was his answer, followed by a snifle, "A minor fever ontop of a bigger fever. Could be worse," Tali replied, coughing again, "My suit sealed the wound, but Mordin had to remove the bullet. It was painful but, keelah, I'm a Brigadier General in the Quarian Marine Corps; I think I can handle just as well as you now."

He chuckled, "You're not the only one who got shot."

Her eyes widened behind her mask even as Mordin stood up, using his omni-tool to scan her suited form, "You-you got shot! Where! Keelah, show me!"

He turned around, flashing the minor wound to her before turning back around, "Its just a wound, like yours. Mordin will fix it, I'm sure."

"Assumption correct," Mordin replied. Marcus watched as Legion walked past, heading for the AI Core, but stopped as the spectre called out, "Have everyone meet in the conference room Legion, right now. We've got alot to discuss. That includes the non-ground crew and Liara. Me and Tali will join you soon."

"Affirmative Shepard-Commander," Legion replied, "We will assemble the Normandy collective," the geth spun around and notified the team, with Garrus helping move them out and towards the elevator while Marcus and Mordin stayed by Mordin's side, all three of them listening to the machinery of Chakwas working on Zaeed behind the curtains nearby.

Mordin turned to Tali, lowering his omni-tool, broad salarian grin covering his face, "Fever in place. Suit seals checked. All is safe. Ready to go. Duties not negated. Able to perform fully," he inhaled before exhaling, his smile the same, "Good to go. Would like to talk in private with Commander however. Private matter."

Tali nodded, looking at Marcus with worry before leaping off the bed, smiling at a sleeping Madi and then leaving, the door closing behind her. Marcus turned to Mordin as he leapt onto a bed, lying back as Mordin came to his side to examine the wound, talking as he did.

"Wanted to speak about relationship with Miss Zorah," Mordin started, three-fingered hands wrapped in gloves as he examined Marcus' wound, preparing his tool as he moved to remove the bullet.

"Go ahead," Marcus replied curtly, preparing for the pain to come as he felt tweezers dance around the exposed flesh around his injury.

"Assume all went well. Education vids helped. Major fever subject to sexual activities and improve morale in combat. Noticed effects during battle on Collector Base. Heightened emotions. Increased cognitive. Improved physical combativeness. Overall, prospect of death much more terrifying for both partners. Ideals of something to live for-"

"I get it Mordin. I love Tali, that much is obvious," Marcus told him, "Is there a point to this?"

"Yes yes yes, of course. Always point. Would never dream of redundancy," Mordin smiled tweezers moving in and grabbing hold of the bullet and yanking it out, causing Marcus to grip the sheets as pain lanced through his hip, his voice letting out a choked yelp. The salarian continued, holding up the tweezers as he examined the bullet, wet blood coating and dripping from its flattened surface, "Wanted to know if, on next sexual encounter, could acquire sperm sample from ejaculation and if you could acquire a sample from Miss Zorah's own ejaculatory event."

Marcus shifted uncomfortably on the bed as Mordin dropped the bullet into a silver tray, the salarian grabbing a pair of stitches and approaching Marcus and beginning to work as he applied anasthetic to the wound area before beginning.

The spectre's voice was soft and just above a whisper, "Why...why in the  _hell_ would you want that?"

Mordin was humming until interrupted, continuing with his explanation like a robot, "Simple reasoning of course; wish to help improve quarian immune system. Special project. Working on cure. Samples important. Could be vital in giving quarian's ability to leave suits; process gradual, but with synthesized cure, theoretically able to make automatic. Hard research, many tests, much to think about it. Need samples. Samples vital. Lia'Vael unwilling, unable, no clean rooms, no partner. Human-Quarian couple perfect for sample."

He crossed his arms, knowing the salarian was telling the truth but knowing there was more to the story, "You wouldn't need  _human semen_ to improve a quarian immune system, Mordin. Just come out with it. What other cure are you making?"

Mordin stopped mid-stitching, contemplating his next words before finishing up and standing up, motioning for Marcus to sit up. The N7 winced, but was able to do so, sitting up to his full height as he met the ex-STG agent's eyes.

"Not cure," Mordin replied, clearing his throat, "This idea never existed, never even contemplated, never brought into detail. Asari mate with anyone, able to produce offspring, natural asari trait. However, not communicable with other species. However, developing ways, could help change path of relationship between humans and quarians, namely you and Miss Zorah," the salarian began to pace, "Only theories, but need samples to run tests, be certain, completely possible to genetically rewrite female DNA to accept alien content and combine, shape, redesign. Relationship with Miss Zorah clearly permanent fixture, permanent fixtures lead to companionship bonds, devotion, marriage...," the salarian stopped, meeting Marcus' eyes, "...eventually leads to children."

The shock of the realization hit Marcus like a jackhammer; he simply sat there, looking at Mordin dumbly, trying to comprehend what he had just heard; the  _impossibility_ of it all. In all honesty, he had never even thought about kids; not only had they not reached that stage in their bond yet, but he just didn't think he'd be a good father. Parenthood was a frightening prospect, and with the Reapers coming, raising a child in those circumstances was borderline insanity. But he had seen the disappointment in Tali's eyes whenever the word 'child' was mentioned; they loved each other deeply, and he knew she was the same, but that desire to have children, and not being able to, it teared her up inside...and seeing her like that...tore him up as well.

And Mordin was now offering a way out.

He clasped his hands infront of him, "Let me get this straight Mordin; are you saying, that with our DNA samples, you can give Tali the chance of carrying  _our_ child in her body? Not a quarian clone or adopted child, but you can get her pregnant with a child made of  _both_ our DNA? How is that even possible? What race would it be?"

"Race obvious; it would be both," Mordin told him, "No matter how modified, both DNA strands remain human and quarian, can't change that. Creation of quarian-human hybrid, but it would be  _your_ child. Flesh, blood, and right down to genetic marker. Theoretical, but highly possible. Don't want to raise hopes, only offer possibility."

"Mordin..." he contemplated, remembering the looks of pain Tali's features.  _No more. I'll give her what she most desires more than me; what she_ _ **deserves**_ _,_ "...I'll do it. I'll ask Tali, but I'm sure she'll agree. I'll get you those samples."

Mordin nodded, smiling, "Excellent. Will be in tech lab. Researching other things, other projects," both of them got up to leave, and as they left the med bay, Marcus started to chuckle, drawing Mordin's frown.

Marcus spoke first, "Why do  _you_ of all people need to be the one to make this happen?"

Mordin looked offended, and almost blinked as both of them moved into elevator, the salarian hitting the button for deck two, "Had to be me. Someone else might have gotten it wrong."

His smile instantly dropped however, Marcus' mind drifting to other, less enlightening things, "Have you...looked at Maelon's data at all?"

Mordin's smile also dropped like a bomb shell on a shelter. He looked at Marcus, eyes glazing over before looking back, shaking his head, "No. Not enough time; not important. Genophage cure irrelevant to current ideals; will not remove genophage. Simulations dictate war and conflict and death. Cannot risk such an outcome."

"Some day, you're going to have to look at the world apart from simulations," Marcus told him, but his words fell on deaf ears. They quickly arrived at the CIC and both moved through the armoury, and into the conference room. The whole crew was huddled around; including Kelly, Gardner, Gabby and Ken, Joker, and Lia. Even Liara was present, still wearing her white, armoured labcoat, which he found odd. He moved to the front, Mordin assuming position at the back, while Tali and Garrus were where they always belonged; at his side. He stopped at the top of the table, leaning down on it, gaze meeting everyone's, including Jack, who still shot him a deathly glare.  _Still hasn't forgiven me._

"By now, all of you will have found out about the events that occured during our shore leave today," Marcus declared, "Two attacks were executed, one on Liara T'Soni, and another on both me and Zaeed, Kasumi and Tali. Tali was shot and has since recovered, but Zaeed is now in critical condition, having almost been ripped to shreds by gunfire. We don't know if he'll live or not. But he's a tough son of a bitch, so I have faith he'll pull through."

Everyone looked around, disturbed by the news, perturbed. Marcus continued, not wanting to allow gossip to control them all, "What we know now is obvious: The Shadow Broker is gunning for us because he knows Liara knows how to get to him, and that we're her best hope of defeating him. He obviously tried to kill me and Tali to sever the leadership, and I have no doubt that Garrus and Kaidan would have been next, followed by the rest of the crew. This was a personal attack, and none of us are safe anymore."

This got everyone looking at him, awaiting the order they all knew was coming, but dreaded, knowing it was necessary. He spoke, irritation in his voice, "Because of this, and for the crew's safety, I am hereby temporarily putting off shore leave and containing all crew members to the ship until the Shadow Broker is dealt with."

Everyone nodded, seemingly accepting their fate. He continued, beginning to pace, "The Normandy will remain here until repairs are complete, and then we are going to declare war on the Shadow Broker. I will not sit idly while my crew is threatened with death around every corner. We are going to take down and  _end_ the Shadow Broker. I hope you're all ready for this; I know you're all still exhausted from the Collector campaign, but we'll never be safe while the Broker lives."

"No fucking shit," Jack spat, leaning against the table, "I'm ready to send a shockwave up his ass."

Marcus smiled, looking down the table at all of them. This was it; there was no turning back now. He looked at Liara, and nodded.

This was the shadow war.

**"Now it gets intense."**

**\- Tali'Shepard pav Rannoch.**

**"Damn right..."**

**\- Marcus Shepard.**

_**A/N:** _

_**Did you see the Breaking Bad reference? XD** _


	12. Hell Hath No Fury Like A Woman's Scorn

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Illusive Man sends one of his most trusted agents to perform asset denial on Walker Station. Gerrel takes Shepard's warning of the Reapers to heart, but not in the way he intended. As Cerberus begins military build-up, the Illusive Man launches his first major offensive. Shepard surprises Tali with a gift.

**REQUIEM**

**CHAPTER ELEVEN:**

**HELL HATH NO FURY LIKE A WOMAN'S SCORN**

_October 22, 2185_

_1409 hours._

_Drydock, Level 7, Walker Station, Strabo System._

_Agent Kai Leng._

Cold steps; calculating movements. Kai Leng, attack dog of Cerberus, the go-to man of the Illusive Man and possibly the loyalist assassin in Cerberus history, stalked through the halls of Walker Station with cold accuracy, his body swift, measured and calculated. His black armor shone in the light, his eye-implants giving him enhanced vision superior to that of a normal human, even giving him nocturnal vision.

His katana stayed attached to his back, sheathed but ready to be used when necessary. He carried no weapons, only his palm-cannon, which was only the second of his weapons, along with a shield generator that could form a biotic barrier around him. He wasn't a biotic, but that didn't mean he couldn't harness a similiar ability by channelling eezo; it just took more effort and couldn't be used whenever he wanted, needing recharge.

His lips were set grimly over his face, invoking no emotion, as emotion was for the weak-willed. He moved more like a machine than a human being, but he was strong, augmented to be the best, making him the ultimate soldier in his view. A sentinel for Cerberus, a guardian for humanity. He would bring swift destruction to the alien scum that called themselves  _civilized._

The mission was all that mattered, and he would complete it at all costs. A squad of commandos marched in twin columns behind him; carrying their toy weapons as they moved behind him.  _Weapons for the weak; but useful, and can stand up in a fight. They will be grudgingly useful, to a point. And they are disposable._

As he moved down the corridor, a door opened from the mess hall and a pair of scientists walked out, wearing Cerberus uniforms and holding hot cups of coffee in their hands. He examined them with precision only a machine could manage, analyzing them as non-threatening. His black, armoured gauntlet moved to his back, drawing his katana in a swift movement, the silver blade longer than his arm, with a sharpened tip that had never seen neglect, and looked as clean as if it was brand-new.  _It is part of my arm._

The handle flexed in his grip and he continued moving forward, increasing his pace. He spoke, his voice an annoyance, a tool to be utilized, but otherwise a nuisance.  _A voice is a distraction; useful only for negoitation, and diplomacy is for the weak. The Illusive Man spends too much time talking, while I kill. A gun does not need a voice, only something to kill._ Because of this, Leng rarely talked, only ever responding curtly to orders or when giving orders, or when talking to the Illusive Man. Many assumed he was a 'mute.'

_Better than to waste energy on a useless body component._

A tangle of black hair fell infront of his face as he moved and he blew it away, not decreasing his movement. The pair stopped, turning to Leng and smiling, holding up his hand, "Are you Agent Leng?" He was a tall man, brown of hair, weak of build, blue of eyes. His comrade was female, a little closer than she should have been.  _Relationship; love a sign of compromise, more weakness, a corruption. An error in evolution. Easily purged._

He didn't even speak, living up to his title as he brought up his katana high in the air, and before the man could even scream, Leng, expression cold, brought his weapon down in a swinging arc and in a split second, killed his target. The asian-crafted sword sliced through the man's neck and out the other side without any sign of being hampered, the reinforced steel slicing through bone like it was cheese.

The woman screamed, a cry of anguish, of weakness, and watched as the man's head rolled on the floor, dark blood coating the ground as his body crumbled to the ground. Leng turned to the woman and saw her crying in mass hysteria, turning to run...

...only for Kai Leng to be behind her in an instant, his katana digging deep into the small of her back, coming straight out the other end. A rupture of blood exploded from the woman's mouth, coating her lips and cutting off her sobbing with a sharp end. He twisted the blade, enjoying the sounds of pain coming from her as she went limp. A hint of a smile on his face, the man loving the pleasure of taking a life. It felt...euphoric. Addictive. Like a drug. His sadistic grin quickly dropped however.  _A gun does not enjoy death; only takes it._

He yanked the sword out and kicked the limp body to the ground, immediately marching over it and approaching the entrance to the mess hall, head snapping towards his troop, who looked at him wearily. He nodded to inside, "Move inside. Kill everyone. Leave no survivors. I will move to control center. Purge all data. Destroy space station. Leave no trace."

One man gulped, the scent of fear in his voice as he stepped forward and spoke, "Sir, what if the Alliance turns up before we finish and deploys marines? The Illusive Man said they had an entire flotilla heading here."

 _Fear. A weakness. Unacceptable._ "Then your comrades will get rid of them," he then raised his palm, charged his cannon and fired, the shot splitting apart on impact like a shotgun shell. The man's face exploded in a firework of gore, brain detonating, eyes rupturing and chunks of meat fragments in all directions. The men behind him let out cries of alarm as bits of meat and blood struck them, and the man's headless form crumbled to the ground, lifeless. Leng smiled, and quickly lost it, lowering his palm.

_Purged._

The commandos looked between him and the decapitated cadaver, red blood and gore still smeared across their armor, meaty fragments sticking to them like glue. They continued to look horrified before they remembered who they worked for, looked up and straightened, trying to wipe emotion from their faces while assuming semi-disciplined stances.

He examined them, and judged their stances acceptable.  _They are weak; undisciplined, emotional idiots; but they learn quickly. Not my problem. I usually work alone anyway._ That was ultimately why he was superior to Shepard, why he was better than him.  _He works with a squad of aliens, and his best friends are a vagrant and a dino. He relies too much on his morals and allies; which is why he can't save humanity. Only I understand how useless he is; the Illusive Man is too reliant on him. Give me a blade, and I will gladly show who's the better man to protect humanity. And then I'll chop the head off his xeno slut and use it as a mantle._

With a final nod, he motioned to the door to the mess hall, "Get to it."

He watched, with only half-interest, as they moved away, moving into the room. Leng watched them move, and with the same disinterest as he did watching them, he spun around to march down the hall, moving with the same, mechanic purpose he had been for the rest of the time. He felt himself stiffen as his armor seemed to choke him, his form feeling like a machine.  _I am a machine; everything except my flesh and species._ Another tangle of black hair fell in his face and he tucked it away, the assassin sheathing his katana, enjoying the sight of red blood dripping from the blade and coating its pure steel.

With his weapon sheathed, he rushed forward, moving with inhuman speed that only a augmented soldier could achieve. He made sure to charge his palm cannon, making sure it was charged and ready when he needed it. He saw a door ahead of him, locked of course, but that wouldn't stop him. His synthetically enhanced eye implants scanned through the wall, finding the door's power source and raising his palm, discharging a burst of bright, white energy at it.

The section of wall caved in, the circuitry blasting apart from the impact of his powerful weapon. The door haptic interface vanished and the door shot open, perfectly timed, as he rushed through the arch and kept running, seeing an elevator up ahead.  _A delay. I shall bypass it. The mission is everything._

Again his palm rose, fired, and the door opened, allowing him to rush into the elevator. He looked up his eyes, scanning to find a vent before he unsheathed his katana, wedging his sword inbetween the vent's creases and yanking it loose, the blade not even wobbling as the vent came loose and clattered to the ground, Leng gathering all his strengths and leaping out of it, landing ontop, the silent elevator shaft greeting him. He heard gunfire. He smiled.

Looking up, he made sure his sticky undergloves were active before he once again summoned his lower body strength, propelling himself upwards until he hit the wall, hands shooting out to grip the walls. Looking up with mechanical precision, he shot up, moving up the shaft and towards one goal: Level One.

He saw the doorway to the top of the elevator shaft and leapt up, gripping the sides. He raised his palm, preparing to blast open the circuitry and open the door...

...an explosion rocked the station, and the shaft shook, Kai Leng almost losing his grip, if it weren't for his accuracy and speed, and he quickly regripped the edge, looking downwards. The explosion had been distant, but he knew who it was.  _Alliance has arrived. Must double-time it. Smaller time window. Use to advantage. Act quickly._

His palm raised and fired, the door shooting open as he leapt inside, head first, landing on all fours, facing forward. The command and control center of Walker Station was large and spanned about ten meters across on all sides. Control terminals littered the area, along with multiple personnel, all unarmed.  _Easy pickings. Weak._

A massive observation window occupied the wall ahead, and gave a beautiful view of the space outside. The planet it orbitted, Hunyadi, sat before them, a massive ball of pulsing red, the planet's many lava reserves encroaching its surface and burning it to a crisp; Leng imagined what the station would like falling into the planet's atmosphere; a fireball upon a massive fiery heat world.

And covering the vision now, was a wolf-pack of three Alliance frigates, a picket of fighters and a single light cruiser. No doubt a part of a much larger battlegroup or flotilla.  _Must not allow them to get hands on such data. Must be purged; cannot compromise Cerberus operations._ He stood up and approached the middle of the room, quickly garnering the attention of the Cerberus personnel that had been running around the room.

One scientist approached him, obviously the commander of the station, "Agent Leng! I heard you were coming! What are your orders?"

Leng barely spoke, pointing at a nearby console, "All the station archives: delete them."

The man nodded, rushing to the console, "Understand that; can't let the Alliance get their hands on what's stored here."

Leng merely nodded, not answering the man as he moved to unsheathe his katana, doing so slowly so not to arouse suspicion. A few seconds later, the man reported, back turning to face Leng, who's hands were already locking around the handle of his blade, preparing to pull it out and attack.

"Walker Station archives are wiped," the man reported, "What now sir? Have you come to evac us?"

Leng shook his head, "You're all a security risk. Orders to terminate." He fully unsheathed his sword, pulling it forth in a slashing movement and causing the man to jump back in fright, eyes widening with fear as he met Leng's cold expression.

"You can't! Please, I have a-"

He was cut off as he found a katana buried deeply in his mouth, slicing out through the other side as an explosion of blood and gore poured out the other side. His eyes rolled, his protests becoming a gurgling sound and body quickly going limp. Everyone stood there horrified for a few seconds, Leng twisting and then ripping the blade from the man's throat, kicking his dead body to the ground and into a pool of collecting blood. That's when the screaming began.

It was a slaughter; the people had nowhere to go, and they knew it. Everyone tripped and fell over each other, desperately trying to escape Kai Leng's onslaught as they were cut apart, blasted apart or simply bashed into oblivion. Either way, the Cerberus assassin made absolutely sure that noone escaped the purge and when it was all over, and the cries of the weak stopped, everyone in the control center was dead.

 _Mission complete. Extracting now._ He turned to the door, only to hear the elevator ascend. His men had clear instructions to return to the ship when the mission was complete, which could only mean one thing.  _My men are eliminated. Alliance troops ascending. Must eliminate._

He drew his katana, boosted his shields, and prepared his palm-cannon. He waited for what felt like seconds as the elevator ascended to his level and stopped.

Six alliance marines poured out of the elevator, all wearing the blue and black armor of the Systems Alliance. They bore assault rifles and shotguns, and their helmets were fully sealed, in case of decompression. Their armor was medium and they definitely had shields, but it was nothing Kai Leng couldn't handle.  _They will die._

"You!" The lead marine called out, raising his vindicator to face the assassin, his comrades following suit as they piled out and encircled him, "Drop the fancy sword and hands behind your back.  _Now,_ Cerberus scumbag."

Leng merely chuckled, springing into action. His katana danced in his hand, burying itself in the crack between the man's armor and helmet and causing him to gurgle out a cry of pain as blood exploded from the wound, dropping his rifle and collapsing onto the ground. Without hesitation, Leng spun around and activated his biotic barrier generator, just in time to deflect a swarm of gunfire from the rest of the marines.

As this occured, he used his other hand to rip the sword from the man's neck, who had drowned in a growing pool of red liquid and dropped the barrier, raising his omni-tool and sabotaging their weapons. With the weapon's jammed, he charged forth, katana in hand, palm-cannon ready in the other.

One marine dropped her weapon to outright engage the assassin in hand-to-hand and a ghost of a smile came upon his lips as he dodged her kick, and blocked her hammerfist.  _Impressive._ He ducked low, spun, and executed a footsweep, causing the marine to land on her back as Leng completed his turn and plunged his katana deep into her gut, twisting the blade to draw out her agony as he raised his palm and fired a blind shot, blowing apart the kneecap of a soldier raising his sidearm.

Letting go of his katana, he turned and snapped the neck of the crippled soldier, turning to face the other three marines who had their sidearms drawn. He was quick, but not quick enough to avoid a shot to his shoulder, but Leng merely gritted his teeth and this time shrugged off the shot to his hip as he charged and kicked one marine in the side of his head before then using his other leg to kick him in the groin, followed by his palm-cannon blowing apart his head.

Using the man's falling momentum, he picked up his body and used it as a shield against the other two troopers who raised their sidearms to fire at Leng, only to hit their comrade's mutilated corpse. Knowing that his palm weapon needed a few seconds to recharge, he gritted his teeth and growled as he drew his omni-blade. He despised energy weaponry, and preferred to use more olden day style weapons, his palm-cannon and biotic barrier being an exception, but only due to usefulness. Leave it to him, and he'd use only a katana.

With his omni-blade equipped, he charged forth, his cybernetics allowing him the strength to hold up the dead body as he collided with the fifth marine and caused both of them to collapse onto the ground, leaving him open to the sixth marine, who was raising his pistol...

...only for Leng to land infront of him, omni-blade slicing his throat wide open. With a snarl, the assassin lunged his hand forward and pulled the man's tongue out and through his throat, leaving a thick stream of blood gushing out onto his face and body, and soaking the front of his hair, which would soon crust. He dropped the man's ripped tongue to the floor and let his body fall to the ground before raising his palm cannon and finishing off the final marine, who had been climbing to their feet.

With a barely concealed sigh, Kai Leng overlooked the carnage before him. He didn't bother applying medi-gel, as his cybernetics would heal his wounds fast enough. He moved over to another one of the dead marines, pulling the sword from his chest and sheathing it, his mission complete. He commed his transport vessel, steadily making for the elevator as he felt blood on his lips. He smiled...and licked it.

"Sir?" The ship responded.

"Contact Dielheart," Leng replied, still smiling and loving the bitter taste of blood on his tongue, "Tell him that Walker Station's archives are cleared; the Alliance will find nothing here. Wait for me to come back and we'll depart."

"What about our men?"

"Expendable."

"Understood."

And with that, Leng moved towards the elevator, a sadistic grin still spelt on his features. If he could cut through alliance marines like that...

...he couldn't wait to face Shepard. He would enjoy tasting  _his_ treacherous blood.

**{Loading...}**

_October 25, 2185_

_1216 hours._

_Admiralty Board Room, Liveship Rayya, Migrant Fleet, Malro System, Kalaaad Nebula._

_Admiral Shala'Raan vas Tonbay, Admiral Han'Gerrel vas Neema, Admiral Zaal'Koris vas Qwib Qwib, Admiral Daro'Xen vas Moreh._

Shala hated these meetings; every single one was the same. There were two kinds of these meetings; Morning War debate and Migrant Fleet affairs. It would either be a pissing contest between Gerrel or Koris on the terms of war with the geth, with Xen lazily sitting back and lounging while Shala rolled her eyes, or it would be them discussing how to maintain certain ships, where to send certain resources, etc.

To Shala, they were wastes of time. She was a devoted member of the Flotilla, noone could ever doubt that, and she knew the importance of these meetings, but she felt like they spent too much time discussing on what they  _should_ do, instead of actually  _doing it._ She could only imagine what would happen if the turians attacked the fleet; Gerrel would probably end up discussing it...

Today was another one of those days; today, it was politics, thank the ancestors. Gerrel and Koris would make occassional jabs at each other, for sure, they always did love hating each other and their differing opinions, but they mostly remained silent, resorting to the occassional glare which, even behind a mask, couldn't be hidden.

As Koris ranted on about the situation with his Civilian Fleet, Gerrel listened with feigned interest, obviously thinking about how many more guns he could fit on the Neema, or the other ships of his Heavy Fleet. Maybe he was thinking of acquiring a nuclear warhead, or, knowing the man, acquiring some of the new high-tech GARDIAN lasers that the Alliance built to give the Migrant Fleet abit more of an edge. He mostly looked bored, not quite there. Gerrel was always more of a soldier than a politician, Shala could vouch for that. As could have Rael.  _Keelah...what Tali must be going through..._

Xen, as usual, didn't even pretend to be interested and looked thoroughly invested in her omni-tool, hardly even listening as her feet were kicked up on the table. Shala could never understand what she was even doing on the Admiralty Board; she was younger than most admirals, being only 32 years old; not atrociously young for an admiral, but boarding closely. She had only gotten onboard because of Tazai's resignation, nothing else. She was most likely looking up status updates with her Special Projects Fleet; she was always infatuated with her experiments, and it had been obvious that the destruction of the Alarei had upset her.

But four admirals wasn't enough; there was meant to be five, and they were missing the most important of them all; the leader himself. For now Gerrel was taking over as regent for Rael and voting for the next chief admiral was still pending, but it wouldn't be long before a decision was made, or so she hoped. To her surprise, Peta'Yala had entered in as a potential candidate, but she knew his lack of political knowledge would stop him from succeeding, especially due to lack of popularity. Even Tali was on the list, but she doubted she would win either.

 _Tali must still be taking Rael's death hard; why else wouldn't she contact me? She hasn't contacted me or the fleet since her trial. Keelah, I hope she's alright. That suicide mission she mentioned...ancestors give her strength and let her come out alive._ She knew the chances were low, as they were travelling through the Omega 4 Relay, and all she could think of was Tali's mutilated corpse on some base, rotting... _At least her captain is with her._ She smiled at that thought, remembering the embrace they had shared.  _He isn't quarian, but she chose well. Rael wouldn't have liked it, but he might have warmed up to it eventually._

Her zoning out was stopped as Koris' voice reached a new crescendo, as if violently shaking her to make her listen, "...the Civilian Fleet needs these supplies! How are we..."

The admiral leaned forward, hands placed firmly on the desk infront of her and she sighed.  _A clean room. Definitely need a clean room. Maybe spend some time with my husband...yes, that sounds nice. Just some time with him...a clean room...anywhere would do, just not with these insufferable idiots..._

"Shala, are you even listening?" Gerrel asked, breaking Shala out of her daydream. She was about to reply, a bluish tinge coming to her cheeks as she felt ashamed at her behaviour, but was cut off as Xen spoke in retort.

"Can't say I blame her," Xen replied, "This entire meeting is a farce."

Koris looked about to yell as his head snapped towards the younger admiral, " _Excuse_ me? This is hardly a farce! We are discussing the maintenance of the civilian fleet! This is extremely important!"

"To the Admiral of the Civilian Fleet maybe," Xen replied dryly, turning back to her omni-tool, completely uninterested in what retort the admirals around her had, "But not to us. We have our own fleets to maintain Koris; it is your job to look after yours."

Koris appeared to be positively fuming, the admiral standing up and pointing a just finger at the woman, "Maintaining the fleet is a number one priority; we must all share this burden, as the Admiralty Board has done for three hundred years! It is our duty to protect the people and our existence! Like it or not, the Civilian Fleet is the majority of the Flotilla, and all our liveships are under  _my_ command! What do you command Xen? A picket? I command  _the lifeline of our people!_ So don't you sit there and-"

Xen held up a three-fingered hand to halt Koris' ongoing rant, her posture radiating amusement, ripping her attention away from the omni-tool she had seemed so invested in, "Rest easy Koris and you can let loose your urinal fluids later. I just wanted to rile you up, its hilarious to watch you yell. I merely think the fleet is fine as it is, and we shouldn't be fretting over such trivial things."

Xen and Koris seemed to stare at each other for a few more seconds, the feeling in the air tense. Shala exchanged glances with Gerrel, who returned it in turn, giving her a reluctant nod before he stood up, looking directly at Koris, "This meeting is adjourned; we shall continue this on another date."

"Indeed we shall," Koris replied, in his usual a-matter-of-fact tone.

Xen scoffed, garnering the attention of Zaal but before he could turn to yell at her again, she was already out the door. Koris sighed, bowed to the both of them and then took his own leave, leaving Shala and Gerrel alone as they, side by side, also left the room, moving down the corridor towards the trade deck where they would go on seperate shuttles to the Tonbay and Neema.

As they walked, Gerrel turned to her, shaking his head, "You didn't listen to a word, we were singing were you?"

Shala chuckled, giving him a confirming look, "I won't lie, Gerrel. That meeting was pointless, and you know it."

Gerrel shrugged, a grin in his voice, "I admit, it was one of the more redundant meetings. But you know Koris is right; the liveships won't last much longer. We need to...we need to do something."

Shala knew he was right. Not everyone knew it, but the Migrant Fleet was dying. The liveships were aging to a point beyond repair and resources were becoming harder to maintain. Meru's death on the Yallp'az proved this; the ship's excellently maintained oxygen filtration system failing and causing the ship to be scrapped. If they didn't find a world soon, the quarian people would die. Koris wanted them to find a new world, but deep down, Shala knew what Gerrel and Xen wanted, what Tali wanted, what the  _quarian people_ wanted.

Rannoch. They wanted, no,  _needed_ , their homeworld back.

_Like it or not, war will be inevitable. But how can we think of retaking the Veil in our current state? If the fleet can't even maintain itself, then how can we handle naval engagement, especially with the geth fleet?_

These thoughts haunted her; terrified her. The thought of the Flotilla burning over the skies of Rannoch sent shivers through her spine, and she didn't dare think of it, but in times like this, it was hard not to. This new admiral's morals were unknown; noone had been elected yet. Would they support Xen? Maybe support Gerrel's calls for war like Rael did? Neutral like Shala herself? Support Koris? Or maybe another secret ideal...

_I want Rannoch back. I want to be able to hold my husband's hand as we gaze at the sunset, heads uncovered and the feeling of cloth against my skin. I want to give Tali that future, my people that future...we've suffered long enough...ancestors give us the strength to succeed if war comes..._

Shala cleared her throat, looking up at Gerrel as they continued through the halls of the Rayya, "Something will be done, it always is. The Migrant Fleet has survived this long, it can survive alittle bit longer, at least until we find a new world."

Gerrel shook his head angrily, "You're starting to sound like Koris; Rannoch is the only world I will settle for."

"Would you risk our destruction for it?"

"Yes!" Gerrel shouted, turning to her, "Don't you understand, Shala? We need Rannoch! It is our birth planet! We need ground to call home again, not the deck of a ship! We either die retaking the homeworld, or win and reclaim it, or we die out here, in the lifeless void, slowly bleeding out. That is no way to die, not for the quarian people. We will not meekly go out; we will take the geth with us. That is how the quarian people will die, or not at all."

Shala wanted to refute his argument, but knew it was pointless; Rael and Han had always been solid steel walls when it came to their ideals of war with the geth, however foolish they were, and even after Rael's death, Han's opinion would never change, if only strengthened due to the geth being involved in his best friend's murder.

The rest of their walk was spent in silence. They eventually reached the trade deck, where they both exchanged curt but polite goodbyes before entering their respective shuttles and departing the liveship, Kar'Danna vas Rayya, the Rayya's captain, wishing them safe travel. Shala returned the notion and waited patiently as the shuttle approached the Tonbay, gliding through the tightly knit fleet of fifty thousand vessels.

_The biggest fleet in the galaxy, and we're falling apart, and Gerrel would wish to throw us at the geth. It would be our end._

Shala sat there, looking blankly at a wall until the shuttle docked with her flagship's trade deck. She departed, informing her XO that he was still in command and that she would be in her living quarters. The captain, and his/her spouse and children got seperate quarters to the crew, but it was almost as small, showing just how little luxuries the quarian people can afford.

_Not like I desire such luxuries anyway; a waste of resources, if you ask me._

The Tombay wasn't a complex ship, even for the flagship of the Patrol Fleet, so it was a relatively short distance to her quarters from the trading deck. Once she got there, she lifted the cloth covering her doorway, which had the Clan Raan colors and patterns all over it. Pushing it aside, she stepped inside. Her quarters were box sized and was about four meters across with a basic mattress and desk. Her husband wasn't there, which gave her sometimes to herself as she moved to sit behind her tiny desk, opening her terminal and letting it warm up.

She usually looked at the galactic news everytime she did open her terminal, always curious and eager to see what impacts her niece was making on galactic society.  _Or her mother now. Poor girl has no family yet...except for Shepard..._ she smiled at that, the picture of her young niece with the human commander...it warmed her heart, as cheesy as it sounded.

As she did open the news tab however, she immediately noticed the main headline, origination being Illium. With widened eyes gawking the summary below the title she clicked it open and watched the information stream in before her. What she saw appalled, sickened, frustrated, warmed and angered her. With a huff, she finished reading the news report and immediately brought up her omni-tool, looking for Tali's contact address.

_So she survived and never told me? And now she almost gets shot by the Illium police? No, its too much...I need to know she's safe. I can't let the last of Rael's part of the Zorah bloodline die with her, not with my poor niece...no, I don't care if she has to be torn away from Shepard, I'll bring her to where she's safe...she'll listen to me...maybe I should contact Kal and Lia as well..._

And she did.

**{Loading...}**

_October 25, 2185_

_1218 hours._

_'Humanity's Sanctum', Upper Level, Cronos Station, Anadius System._

_The Illusive Man, First Lieutenant Geoff Dielheart._

"So what you're trying to tell me is that the hit squad failed to kill Miss Zorah and Miss Goto?"

He could practically hear Geoff shift behind him, the answer clear to him. TIM wanted verbal clarification however, to know fully from his second-in-command that his attempts to kill two of the closest people to Shepard had failed and they had escaped almost unscathed.

Geoff nodded, "Yes sir. The hit squad failed; their reaction time was unprecedented."

TIM shook his head, "They shouldn't have tried to kill them in the open, and even then, they should have sniped them, not engaged in close combat with a  _shotgun_ specialist. I'd execute the idiots myself, but Zorah and Goto seemed to have done that for me. And the Shadow Broker's men?"

Geoff shook his head, "They were more successful, but lost more men in the progress. They managed to severely wound, if not kill, Zaeed Massani, but Shepard was able to fight off the rest of them intime for extraction and as far as we know, escaped with Massani as well. Both assassination attempts failed."

"This incompetency will not be a issue when that armor and the subsequent upgrades start rolling out," TIM shook his head.

"The Normandy has completed repairs and is scheduled to leave later today," Dielheart reported, hands clasped behind his back, "Do you want me to send another hit squad?"

"And hit them on their home turf? Shepard would see us coming, and besides, the Tajikistan tried that and we all saw how that ended up. I'm done underestimating Shepard," TIM replied, turning to face Dielheart, "No more hit squads; the Shadow Broker and I will coordinate closely and watch Shepard from a distance; T'Soni is a threat, but we must wait until they are vulnerable before striking, and this time with more force. Subtlely isn't working for us, and that always calls for desperate measures. Anyway, I want an update."

"Armor progress is the same, but some of our teams have managed to track down Sovereign's remains. Some pieces, mostly to do with the weapons, are in the hands of the Hierarchy, some with the Union, and the rest with the Alliance. Special forces teams have been dispatched to recover the remains, and the Shadow Broker is sending some of his own men to aid us."

"The fleet?"

"The Montgomery is complete," he responded, "We have begun repainting her into Migrant Fleet colors, and she will be usable within a few days, with everyone working full time. Completion extended at the end of the weekend. As for the rest of the fleet, construction is moving fast, but it will be a while before its completed. The Elbrus is almost completed however, as you requested."

"How about the recruitment program, Eva project and the Atlas requisition? I also want to begin reinforcing our LOKI mechs with heavy armor plating and giving them limited VI program intelligence. We'll call them Rampart mechs."

"The recruitment program is going well, with many already rallying to our cause, many of them Terra Firma supporters. A few Alliance officers have defected as well," the human stated, "The Eva project has reported that they have finished the AI itself and are just struggling with constructing the body now. They expect completion to be within the next month. Atlas requisition is going fine, with over 150 Atlases purchased and being loaded onto Benedict Military Station. More are rolling in as we go. And I will have the military division informed of your new orders recording the LOKI mechs. Also, General Petrovsky would like to see you; he arrived a day ago."

"Excellent. Send him in immediately," TIM replied, waving Dielheart off as he continued to look blankly at Anadius; or, rather, the gigantic dreadnought that now obscured his vision of said sun. The Elbrus was enormous in size, as was befitting a Killmanjaro-Class Dreadnought, and the many workmen building it along her length was impressive. She was a dull grey in color at the moment, but he could practically see the Cerberus logos and colors on her now.  _The pride of the Cerberus Navy...and she will be Petrovsky's to command..._

Geoff had left and the door quickly reopened, causing TIM to turn around in his chair, watching General Oleg Petrovsky, ex-Alliance Army Veteran, walk in, his posture radiating authority and demanding submission. He was quite impressive.

The man was obviously russian, not only the man's name giving it away but his accent over the comms had been very thick. His face was rugged and his jawline firm, with a long line of heavy stubble practically covering his chin and upper lip, giving him a combination of thick moustache and beard, all black and brown. His thick, brown eyebrows were so close together, they were almost a monobrow and his ears were oriented widely out to the side, so much so that it was almost comical.

His eyes seemed set in permanent glare mode, his eyelids so small and narrowed, you could barely make out the aqua blue in them. His forehead was huge and largely uncovered, with his black, combed and washed hair starting at the top of his head and ending just above his neck, giving him the look of a well-maintained man. He still wore his alliance general uniform, but soon that would be replaced by his Cerberus admiral's uniform, which was being weaved for him even as they spoke, Cerberus' militarization knowing no bounds.

The man stopped infront of his chair, moving as close as he dared and hands clasped behind his back, chest puffed out, looking down at the cross-legged leader of Cerberus. He fit his uniform well, and his tanned skin did nothing to hide his rippling muscle.

Oleg had built something of a reputation; infamous and famous, which is why the Illusive Man had been so interested in him. He had fought in the First Contact War, and was round about the same age as Councilor Anderson. His knack for strategy and tactics had made him an excellent tactician, and had General Williams not been in command of the Shanxi garrison and Petrovsky there instead, they might have beaten the turians and Shanxi would never have been occupied.

His strategic way of thinking was funny, however. The man had been obsessed with chess in his early childhood, and had carried on his passion into his military career. He took his holographic chess set with him everywhere he went and, when he became a general, used it as a sort of 'strategic map.' The famously dubbed 'chess tactics' was devised by the general, who used his 'pawns' as his troops, 'queen' as his second-in-command, his rooks and bishops as armoured and naval divisions, knights as reserves and of course, the king was him.

But the chess tactic worked, and Petrovsky kept using it. And luckily for Cerberus, he was heavily pro-human, having a profound hatred for turians ever since the Relay 314 Incident. He was perfect.

"Illusive Man," Petrovsky, his accent deep-throated and thick, "An honor to meet the man himself in person. I thought I'd be speaking through hologram; apparently not."

"Men like us deserve to meet in person, General," TIM replied cooly, "How do you find Cerberus? Better than the Alliance I should hope?"

Petrovsky, scoffed leaning back slightly, "Its not comfort I look for, its enemies. I am a general, I have no time for luxuries and don't want to entertain the thought of them. Give me men to command and then we'll see how accomodating Cerberus can be."

TIM let a ghost of a smile pass his lips, but quickly wiped it away, snuffing out his cigarette, "Straight to business, an attitude I can come to like, few men are like this. Petrovsky, what if I told you I was making you General of the Cerberus Army?"

Petrovsky, unlike TIM, didn't bother hiding his smile, although it was faint, the man hardly being amused, "I don't know; what would you like me to say?"

"That you're honored," TIM replied, "That you're willing to do anything to further the needs of humanity and stop the Reaper threat."

"Then I'm honored," Petrovsky replied in kind, "And I will do anything that is necessary to further the needs of humanity and stop the Reaper threat. I do have a question though; I was told that I would be given full command over the Cerberus military; what changed this?"

TIM nodded, turning to a screen behind him, "Because the Cerberus Minister of War needs to always be available when things need doing, but you'll be quite occupied, I'm afraid. When finished, I will be giving you command of the entire Cerberus First Fleet, with the Elbrus as your flagship and at a maximum of forty thousand troops."

Petrovsky raised an eyebrow as he looked at the schematic, "And what will I be doing?"

TIM turned around, and eyed the space station that would soon be in his grasp; Cerberus' grasp. "I want you to conquer one of the most infamous space stations in the galaxy and to turn it into a Cerberus-occupied city. I want you to turn it into a stage of operations for our organization. In short, Petrovsky..."

He turned back to the man, holding up his whiskey as he took a sip, and met the man's cool gaze, both of them waiting for the answer. And the answer oh so easily rolled from his lips.

"...I want Omega."

**{Loading...}**

_October 25, 2185_

_1221 hours._

_Captain's Quarters, Normandy-Class Stealth Frigate Normandy SR-2, Docked on Illium._

_Commander Marcus Lee Shepard, Chief Engineer Tali'Zorah vas Normandy._

"Marcus, what are you doing!?"

Marcus chuckled as he held firmly onto the quarian engineer's wrist, pulling her out of engineering and towards the elevator, to both her irritation, and Gabby and Ken's relief, the quarian having worked them to death the last week while the Normandy was repaired. The ship was practically fixed now, and if it hadn't been for the crew, you wouldn't even know the ship had been on a suicide mission...

...or had been Cerberus. As he pulled the struggling quarian outside, he was no longer met by a Cerberus insignia glaring back at him or white and gold aligning the walls...no, instead there was no insignia, and he had chosen to give the ship a red and black color; his favourite colors...or fav color and shade, if you even bothered with the distinction.

He pulled Tali towards him, the quarian spinning until his arm was around her waist and she stopped struggling, instead sighing with feigned annoyance and quickly snuggling in, the spectre laughing as they entered the elevator and he punched the button for deck one, unable to contain his excitement as they moved upwards.

_Its finally done...its installed..._

With noone looking, Tali looked up at him, slapping his chest, "You bosh'tet! Why did you drag me away from my work? I was busy!"

"I think I was doing Ken and Gabby a favor," Marcus remarked but seeing the quarian's eyes narrowing, he quickly answered the question, "Because the repairs are almost done and I want to spend some time with you." It was an easy lie, and it rolled easily from his lips, but he could tell his little engineer wasn't buying it.

"I still have work to do," Tali replied instantly.

"And I'm the captain, and I'm telling you to  _relax_ ," Marcus soothed, rubbing her arm, "The Collectors are defeated; we should be celebrating, not working our asses off! We did plenty of that during the collector campaign and now we have time to relax. Besides, I  _want_ to spend time with you, and since its too dangerous to walk around Nos Astra, sometime in the cabin is a good idea. I want to introduce you to a new TV series too. Its old, just like Game of Thrones, but just as good."

Tali hummed, leaning in, "Hmmmmm...What's it called?"

"Breaking Bad," Marcus replied, "Its a very interesting and interesting series, you'll like it. I hope. I mean, its not all blood and gore like Game of Thrones, but its still pretty hardcore."

"I'll take your word for it," Tali replied, silence entering the elevator as it slowly climbed upwards. He groaned inwardly, causing the quarian snuggled up to him to giggle. He sighed in response.  _Damn this elevator; why is it so bloody slow! Its a marked improvement over the SR-1's elevator, but come on! Are we incapable of making fast moving-_

The elevator ceased movement and the door opened, allowing them access. He blinked and let a grin cross his lips.  _Spoke too soon?_ Both of them moved out of the elevator and towards the cabin, and he knew Tali wouldn't be able to not notice the fact that there was now two doors leading into the cabin instead of one, both of them overlapping. She stopped movement and looked up at him, frowning.

"What's this?" Tali asked, pointing at the second door, "That wasn't there before."

"It is now," Marcus smiled, letting his hand slide from her waist, "Go ahead, open it. See what it does."

She gave him a quizzical and suspicious look, but only got Marcus' encouraging hand waving to the door in response. She sighed, reluctantly pulling away from her mate as she turned to the door, inhaled and exhaled and then marched towards it, closing the distance in a millisecond. She gave the door another once over, looked back at Marcus, the same grin on his face and then turned back, raising her hand and tapping the orange colored haptic interface.

She watched the door shoot open and blinked in surprise when she heard EDI's voice, followed by a cleansing beam of light similiar to the Normandy's decontamination unit in the airlock begin to drown her form in white light, "Standby. Decontamination in progress."

She widened her eyes in realization and turned to her boyfriend, the man confirming her thoughts with a grin. She watched as the beam continued to drape her, before Marcus stood beside and let the beam do its work on him as well, both of them smiling at the results. Once finished, the haptic interface of the cabin door remained red and both of them; yes, even Marcus, looked at each other in confusion before EDI's voice rose, "Cleansing cabin of bacteria and pathogens...please wait."

Both of them beamed, embracing each other as Tali whispered, "I can't believe...I can't-"

"Decontamination complete. You may enter when ready."

Marcus' hand shot out, hit the now green interface and the cabin door shot open, letting out a soft hiss as the room pressurized and equalized with the room they were in. They moved inside, still holding each other and smiling. But then Tali broke away from him, leaping into the room and ripping off her mask as she yelled, voice unsythesized, "I'm  _free!_ "

She turned to Marcus a grin on her soft cheeks as she looked at him, hot tears forming, "You made...you did all this...for me...a clean room...for us...You turned your cabin,  _our_ cabin, into a clean room. Marcus, how...?"

"With a couple of the best technicians Liara could find, a certain geth infiltrator and EDI's finishing touch," he looked up, smiling, "Thank you by the way EDI, and make sure those techs get a bonus in their paycheck; they've earned it. Thank Legion too."

"Will do commander," EDI replied, her voice having a hint of  _pride_ in it.

Tali, still smiling, looked at him quizzically, "Legion helped? The workers weren't...freaked out by that?"

"Don't worry, Legion never directly helped, it just helped over the comm feeds via a link EDI made. They basically worked in tandem. It was damn impressive. Even Mordin gave it a once over to make sure it worked properly," Marcus replied, still grinning at his ability to surprise his lover.  _Speaking of Mordin...I need to get him those samples...but not before asking Tali..._

Tali nodded, moving further into the room as she pulled down her hood and stepped into the room, only for Marcus to redirect her to a closest nearby. She frowned but it quickly disappeared when Marcus opened his drawers and pulled out a special set of clothes weaved... _for quarians._

"These," he told her, "Are for you whenever you're out of your suit in here. Can't very well have you walking around naked all the time."

Tali giggled, bumping hips with him before grinding her buttocks against his crotch, forcing him to stiffle a moan, "Oh, but I'm sure you'd love me that way."

"I would, but come on, some dignity, right?" He ignored the heated gaze Tali gave him, reading her thoughts better than he thought he did.  _She isn't sick anymore...and I really should get those samples..._ He shook the thoughts from his head, handing the clothes over to Tali. But as he did, the quarian walked past him and rummaged into the draw, clearly finding something she liked. With a barely concealed grin and a body of mirth, she turned to him, hiding something behind her back, "Close your eyes." Her voice was honey.

"What?" He asked, confused, looking at what she was hiding, "What have you got behind your back?"

"A surprise," she told him flatly, cocking her head at him, "Now, close your eyes and turn around."

He sighed, giving in as he turned around and closed his eyes, crossing his arms as he did. He waited a few seconds and a grin formed as he heard Tali fiddling with her suit latches and seals, obviously removing the blasted prison from her body. He pictured her naked, lithe form in his mind and let it occupy his thoughts; how she smelt, how she felt...how she tasted...

"Turn around, open your eyes," Her voice was seductive and he felt himself shiver at her tone.

He opened his eyes first and turned around, stopping mid turn as his eyes widened at the beautiful, s _exy_ sight before him.  _Oh..._

Tali wasn't wearing her suit anymore; that was obvious, as it was placed haphazardly on the couch and her mask resting beside the scorched N7 helmet he found on Alchera. Her pale grey skin was shown once more, and her freckled cheeks always reinforced his opinion of her adorableness. Her little three-toed feet just backed this, as did her small, frail three-fingered hands. Tali was a badass...but this Tali wasn't. All he saw was...was a  _goddess._

But she wasn't naked; she was wearing something. A top.

That something was his N7 hoodie.

He looked at her, mouth hanging open. His hoodie was obviously big for her; it covered her entire torso and even stretched down her legs, acting as a skirt as well, hiding her loins behind a wall of cloth. She was naked and wearing nothing underneath, which just made his member stiffen even more.  _Damn it Tali, you're not helping this situation..._

The hood was pulled up, hiding her hair, leaving only her face, which was alittle bit hidden under the hood, the quarian smiling with teeth bared, one of the hood's straps fiddling in her hands. He could see her breasts, free of the restraint of the suit, and they definitely couldn't be hidden by the hoodie that was too big for her frame.

But god, she looked  _sexy_ in it.  _Hot_ even.

"Like what you see?" He could see her blushing.

With a grin he grabbed onto her hips, thrusted her into the air and practically moved her over to the couch, where he sat down and she sat on his laps. He looked up at her, gave her a peck on the lips, and looked deeply into her eyes, "Forget the new clothes; I want you wearing  _that_  all the time."

The quarian giggled, "I can't wear male clothes, Marcus."

"Oh, but you look so sexy in it," he told her, still grinning and causing her to blush again, the quarian still not used to compliments.

She snuggled further into his chest, sighing heavily, "I could get used to this; it feels selfish, but I really could. I love you Marcus, and I want every moment we have together to be like this."

"You know that won't happen for awhile," he told her, arm wrapping around her shoulder as he pulled the hood down and kissed the top of her head, "But we'll enjoy what moments we can have like this. I love you too Tali and I wouldn't give up this moment for  _anything_. That said, I have something I need to-"

He was cut off as Tali's omni-tool gave off a shrill scream, something akin to a banshee's screech, or at least to the two of them in terms to their moment together and Marcus growled with irritation, Tali reciprocating the gesture by reluctantly pulling herself from him and moved over to the desk to retrieve her omni-tool but not before wiggling her hips, giving him a sly smile as she picked up the small device in her palm and activated, "I'll put it on-"

She stopped herself, obviously invested in what she was reading. He looked up at her and got up, walking over to her just as she turned to him, gulping. His eyes narrowed, "What's wrong? What happened?"

"Marcus," Tali gulped again, hesitating as she deactivated her omni-tool, "Auntie Raa-Admiral Raan has ordered me, Kal and Lia to return to the fleet immediately. She says she won't accept negoitation..."

He narrowed his eyes, angry, "This better not be another trial."

"I think she'd tell me if it was; she did last time. But Marcus, she seemed pretty angry in the message. I think she knows about my survival and how I got shot, and is angry at me for not answering. She'll want answers."

He smiled, sighing as he pulled the omni-tool from her palm and wrapped his arms around her, holding her close, "Then'll we go. But in the mean time, I've got something I'd like to do..."

Tali gave a sultry smile, "Which is?"

She shuddered as one of his hands reached down and prodded her womanhood, causing her to moan. She returned the gesture by slipping her hand into his jeans, clutching his erect manhood, and began to stroke it. Both of them continued this motion before they stopped, looked at each other and kissed each other deeply. Once they broke for breath, Tali motioned to the bed.

"Bed. Now."

And both of them moved towards the bed. And they made love for the majority of that morning.

Noone dared interrupt them.

**"Keelah; my aunt was always very protective."**

**\- Tali'Shepard pav Rannoch.**

**"No shit!"**

**\- Marcus Shepard.**

_**A/N:** _

_**I apologize for this overly late chapter, but its like I said, Year 10 is brutal and chapters will be nonexistent in the last week of Term 2 as I'm going on Work Experience at a Law Firm, which will take up most of my time.** _

_**REMEMBER:** _

_**This story is not dead!** _

_**Also, I'm going to start writing two one-shots, both of them depressing and Mass Effect based. I hope you're ready to shed a few tears or be emotionally ripped, because I know I will just writing them. One will be based during ME3, the other based on the Refusal Ending.** _


	13. (Unfinished)

This chapter never saw the light of day, and maybe it will someday, but not now. I shall explain why briefly:

The file became corrupted and when I want onto it, all the text was invisible. I had tried every measure to make it reappear, but nothing has worked and I AM DEFINITELY NOT rewriting over 10,000 thousand words of writing and detail, especially for a chapter that is mostly filler; its literally just dialogue.

So, instead of redoing the chapter, I'm going to skip it and move on.

Summary of Chapter: Shepard and Tali arrive on Normandy and dock with the Rayya with Miranda, Garrus and Kasumi, with Shepard wearing his brand new Terminus Armor. Kar'Danna turns up with a squad of marines, under order from Raan to escort them to the Arena; Garrus, Kasumi and Miranda returning to the ship.

They arrive, Raan punishes Shepard, breaking his nose again and rants to Tali about keeping her safe, before Tali calms her down and explains the mission against the Collectors, returning to the ship as they do, with Peta watching from a distance and plotting to use his skills as a mechanic to kill Shepard, disappointed in learning that the vote for the next admiral was cancelled.

Shepard offers a tour of the Normandy for the admirals and they inspect the vessel; that's basically it. I'm sorry guys, and I know how lazy it sounds, but I simply cannot rewrite it all AGAIN. But  _I will_ , maybe when Requiem is finished and Holocaust has started, will go back and rewrite this, or maybe I'll wait until the whole series is down, but  _I will rewrite it_ , mark my words.

Thank you for your understanding and I hope you look forward to Chapter 13.

Keelah Se'lai.


	14. Archaeology

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In the present, Red follows up on a rumor that her daughter may still be alive. Jessica meets with the Shadow Broker. The Covenant grows bold.

**REQUIEM**

**CHAPTER THIRTEEN:**

**ARCHAELOGY**

_August 13, 2251_

_1814 hours._

_Grim Skulls' Base, Harpy District, Sanctum Civilian Zone, Alpha._

_Terra-Rannochian War._

_Viglante Samara._

She moved with purpose; her every step taking her closer and closer to her target, one she had thought long dead. Her red armor gleamed in the pink lights of Alpha's skyline, the light seemingly bouncing off her chestplate and helmet, a dance of lights commencing on its crimson surface. The armor she wore was custom made; a light weight defence that was laced with polymer, hints of steel and, as crude as it was, reinforced packets of sand deep inside. Her body glowed with furious biotic intent, the cold enveloping her, and the asari embraced it.

She felt anger. Confusion. Worry.

Morinth was back. How? She didn't know, but that was the word. She was alive, on Alpha, and leading the Grim Skulls.  _She couldn't have known who I was; my name is officially Red Star, not Samara. She can't have recognized me or my name; all of it has been erased._ She quickly shook the thought away, not wanting it to plague her.  _I am not who I was; if I falter...Morinth cannot be allowed free; not again._

Morinth was not her daughter; not anymore. She was an Ardat-Yakshi, a monster...and she was going to die.  _But I killed her...Shepard was there, as was Tali...they saw me kill her...how could she be alive? I snapped her neck; noone could possibly survive that._  But with current medical advances, Samara just couldn't be sure.

The door of the base came astoundingly closer, and Samara could feel her heartbeat increase, blood running cold as her biotics consumed them in a icy grip; unwilling to let go until Morinth and all her mercenaries were dead. She narrowed her eyes, approaching the enemy base with what seemed to be increasing speed; she felt like she was running almost, SMG at her hip going unnoticed.

All around her skyscrapers rose tall and high; the place where the Gozu District once stood being filled with the highest of Sanctum cosmopolitans and a great metropolis stood around them.  _Hard to believe that a Collector plague had once ravaged this place._ The skycrapers were a hybrid of turian and asari design, a symbolism of how desperate the two peoples were to escape their executioners.  _Not even a hint of human, krogan or quarian design. Funny, especially considering the krogan fought on the Council's side in the PA War._

Samara looked back, watching as two intersecting walls began to encroach on her, as if herding her towards the door directly before her, giant titanium surface almost seeming to invite the asari. The door was simple in design and held a sort of turian feel, but there was not even a single sign of the Grim Skulls' trademark husk skull, just a grey door.

She approached, but almost stopped as she saw it open of its own accord, a line of rifles greeting the asari as this time, she  _did_ stop, looking at them as her biotics still ravaged her. A long line of mercenaries, all in dark brown and orange armor, stood there, numerous pulse rifles, shotguns, pistols and even a plasma repeater staring at her, as if daring her to move. They wore fully-sealed helmets, the two, circular eye pieces perputually wide eyed, watching her with glowing intent. And, on the front of their chestplate and shoulderpads was, of course, their logo; a husk's skull.

The Grim Skulls, along with all the other minor mercenary companies, weren't as picky as the major hitters, like the Blue Suns, Eclipse and Blood Pack. Where they only hired certain species, the others went all out and hired anyone they could. Even now, Samara could see two asari, one human, three quarians, a batarian and, to the asari's fear, the titanic, tankish form of a yahg, holding a plasma repeater that seemed too small for its hands, which had to be the size of human's torso.

The yahg growled something to its fellow mercs and the batarian approached, growling as it did, obviously a female, "You are Red Star?"

Samara gulped again, not allowing fear to enter her pose.  _Are they even that observant?_ She wasn't going to take that risk, especially with three quarians in the group, and straightened her posture, nodding, "That I am. Are you the commander here?"

The batarian scoffed, "Don't ask questions or Galo;Feer here will shoot you," the batarian thrusted a thumb at the towering yahg behind them and Samara noticed one quarian nervously shuffling his feet, obviously feeling belittled by the massive creature.  _Even the krogan would be in awe at such a beast. The salarians thought the krogan were nothing but brutal warriors, but the yahg...they didn't even build a civilization; their entire history is bloodshed, without even an once of peace. 'The Evolutionary War' the scientists call it._

The yahg grunted its agreement, Samara unable to tell whether she was looking at a male or a female.  _They all look the same._ Samara nodded, showing no sign of her trepidation at the yahg's presence, "Very well. Are you here to kill me or take me to Morinth?"

The batarian chuckled mirthlessly, "Wouldn't have bothered asking for a name if we wanted you dead," she turned to her team, holding a fist in the air and spinning it. The mercs nodded, keeping their weapons lowered at the ex-justicar as they moved to the side, creating a space for the asari to move through, revealing a long corridor. The batarian turned back to you, "Your daughter would like to speak to you. Don't try to resist, or-"

"You'll shoot me," Samara finished for him, garnering herself a growl of irritation from the merc, "I understand. Its how you operate," with that, she clasped her hands behind her back and marched down the corridor, flanked by Morinth's henchmen as they moved behind her and at her flanks, the huge, repetitive thuds of the yahg echoing through the hall.

As they went through the base, Samara couldn't help but be intrigued by the way they had decorated their halls, old memories conjuring up. To her disgust, she saw the bodies of many husks and even a few adjutants having been impaled on spikes, paraded around the base like some kind of war trophy.  _You weren't even there in the final assault. You didn't fight the Reapers...yet you parade these dead husks and adjutants, like they were your kills..._

But it just went on. She saw the remains of burnt Cerberus armor, discarded like scrap at one side, while another had the remains of a destroyed Rampart mech.  _And now they try to pretend they had a role in kicking Cerberus off of Omega...these people are despicable. Taking credit for battles they never fought or won. Those were Shepard's victories...the victories of heroes, soldiers..._ Samara remembered the final day of the Reaper War all too well, and the emptiness it left inside her.  _He died...but now he's back. I wonder, Marcus Shepard, where are you now?_

Finally, after a few more corridors, they approached the entrance to Morinth's bunker, a new thought coming up in her head.  _Wait, why would Morinth have me brought to her? She knows I'm more powerful and has always been trying to run away from me because she_ _ **knows**_ _this. Bringing me to her seems suicidal...something isn't right..._ But she didn't get anymore time on the thought as she reached reality, the yahg's plasma repeater stabbing her back and urging her on. So she continued.

They moved inside and she immediately felt the yahg's hand grope her, only for it to move away, SMG in its grip. And within a second, had crushed it, dropping its remains to the floor.  _Such a powerful creature...you would have given the Reapers pause..._

The room itself was a work of art; a massive structure. Two golden pillars stretched out at the back of the room, reaching up to hold a roof that stood 15 meters above them, a massive glass dome encompassing the ceiling. The room was covered in bright light, with multiple doors off to the side, all polished and gleaming with light. An insurmountable amount of mercs occupied the room, all ranging from quarians to turians, along with the occassional raloi. Another yahg was present, flanked by two massive looking krogan that almost looked identical in size to the beast in their midst, both holding blood red claymore shotguns in their grip.

And at the center of it all, a walnut desk stretching five meters across, lined with terminals, pieces of machinery and a single, glowing, milky white drone, the spherical device floating above the desk and talking in mechanical undertones that made her ears hurt. Morinth, or so she assumed, sat behind her desk, helmet on and fully sealed, along with the rest of her whitened armor. Funny, as her breasts seemed to have grown...massively.

The woman met Samara's gaze, or so the asari assumed, and nodded, motioning for her to be brought forward. Samara ignored the batarian behind her though and moved of her own accord, bracing her arms against the desk as she ripped her helmet off, tossed it across the desk and met the asari's gaze with anger, "Morinth! How the  _hell_ are you alive!?"

Morinth cocked her head at the outburst, as if confused by the viglante's statement. She was moving to throttle the woman when the batarian woman grabbed her arm and began pulling her back, weapon poking the back of her torso. But just as she began thrashing, Morinth held up a hand, stopping the batarian's attack and waving for Samara to come closer, looking oddly calm given the circumstances.

With Samara in range, Morinth leaned over the desk and whispered in a careful tone. It wasn't harsh or deceptively calm, but it was soothing, relaxing and most of all...hinting at something. And the voice caught her completely by surprise as she recognized, a smile gracing the woman's lips.

"...oh, but I'm  _not_ Morinth," the woman stated, leaning back, "She has been dead a long time."

"Wait, then who the hell are you?" the batarian asked, raising her weapon, along with numerous other mercs in the room, but, to Samara's surprise, not all of them did, including the yahg that had escorted her inside. She eyed the asari, watching her regard the batarian with barely concealed disgust.

"None of your concern," the woman replied, a cruel smile crossing her face, "...at least not anymore. Execute."

Samara heard a gasp and spun around, looking, along with everyone else, as the yahg swatted one quarian aside like an annoying fly, before using its plasma repeater as a bat to wack an asari across the head. With an angered roar, it lowered the plasma repeater at the batarian and fired. Samara's face was painted with red blood, and she almost gasped in pain at how hot the blood was, the life force seeming to sizzle on her skin. The batarian woman's body crumbled to the ground, riddled with multiple plasma burns and blackened skin, the sound of boiling blood pouring out of wounds heard only by her ears as carnage broke out.

One of the krogan flanking the second yahg aimed his claymore at Not-Morinth but suddenly found his guts spilling out onto the ground, before a claymore was shoved into his mouth and his entire face blown to smithereens in a second, the second krogan having dispatched of his ex-buddy and turning to the face the yahg he once flanked, who now turned to face him.

The yahg swipped at the krogan, only to find his attack ducked as the krogan pulled out a massive hammer from his back, loosening it from its sheathe and bringing it down in a mighty swing, the blade tipping the hammer slamming into the top of the yahg's skull and burying itself, causing the massive creature to bellow a cry of pain and fury. Pulling the hammer out, the krogan slammed a grenade into the beast's mouth, leapt back, and watched as it detonated, blowing the yahg's head apart and sending meaty fragments in all directions.

The carnage was over in no time; with only one yahg, two krogan, a few asari, a turian, two salarians, five quarians and seven humans left after the battle. They all turned to Samara, but they didn't raise their weapons, instead snapping them down and throwing a salute in her direction.

But the salute wasn't for her, and she turned around, seeing the asari now standing, helmet off and on her desk, the woman smiling at Samara as her white drone hovered behind her.

Samara smiled back, remembering her old friend, "Liara T'Soni. A pleasant surprise."

"Not so pleasant for me," Liara replied, walking around the desk and eying the dead Grim Skulls mercs around her as she nodded to her men, most likely her agents in disguise and approached her yahg soldier, motioning for Samara to follow, "I do hate having to kill people, but it was necessary. These people were quite clearly corrupt."

She stopped infront of the yahg, whispering commands in its ear while her drone, Glyph, hovered beside her, obediently awaiting further commands. A few seconds later, the yahg nodded, scoffed and turned to move away, the rest of the Shadow Broker's agents following quickly behind in an organized and disciplined column, leaving Samara alone with Liara.

The asari turned to her, sighing heavily, "I went through alot of trouble to get you here."

Samara glared at the asari, circling her as she did, hands still clasped behind her back, "You sent that agent to kill me."

"Knowing he couldn't. The man was a merc, and was easily fooled," Liara replied cooly, not even wavering under the fellow asari's glare, "Besides, I knew you could handle one, incompetent merc. And I just knew naming myself Morinth would draw your attention. I'm sorry if it brought back horrible memories, but I needed to bait your attention."

"I understand," Samara stated, glare lessening to narrowed eyes, "But why the Grim Skulls? And how did you even take command of them without them questioning it?"

"Oh, there was questions," Liara smiled grimly, "But they were soon quelled, and my agents were quickly able to assert themselves into the organization. I named myself Morinth to lure you here whilst also to fool these mercs into thinking I'm their leader, who apparently had used the name as well, coincidentally, and then sent one pathetic little merc to lure you here. It all worked, and here you are."

"Why did you call me here, Shadow Broker?" Samara asked, choosing to use the asari's title instead of her real name, considering who she had become, "As you probably already know, I'm supposed to be handing Daro'Xen over to a partner of mine. A mutual friend, later this month. I currently have her imprisoned, but I must return soon."

"Mutual friend, yes. Miranda Lawson, I presume?" Liara asked and, noticing Samara's nod, quickly continued, a smug smile on her face, "Yes, well I'm sure that can wait. I lured you here for a specific reason, to tell you that your life is currently in danger."

Samara rolled her eyes, allowing a ghost of a grin to cross her face, "My life is always in danger; I am a viglante, it is my job to put myself in danger to protect the innocent."

Liara nodded, creasing her lips in a frown, "True. But you have fought mercs and the occassional second rate soldier. The threat I've come to present you with is something far more dangerous; an enemy you fought before on Lesuss."

Samara's confident posture evaporated in that instant, the asari slumping her shoulders in a brief representation of fear, but also anger, remembering what her old enemy had done to her last daughter, what they had aided in doing to her people; she knew she shouldn't trust Liara, considering the asari was effectively a traitor for helping the Dominion, but she couldn't help  _but_ trust her. The asari had helped defeat the Reapers, afterall.  _As did everyone else._ She shook the thought aside, meeting the asari's unflinching gaze.

"Prometheus," the word felt alien rolling from her lips, the name spoken decades ago when the galaxy had been tearing itself apart for a second time. To her credit, she showed no fear as she replied, unshaking, "They could not be a threat to me; I have covered my tracks, and they clearly wouldn't dare operate on Alpha. They wouldn't risk war with the Sanctum."

The Broker shook her head, "A war with Sanctum is definitely something they want, if the intelligence I've gathered is anything to go by. But that's not the point; Prometheus is not what we've been misled to believe. They are actually a reincarnation of Cerberus."

Samara's eyes widened, "Impossible. The Illusive Man is dead."

"You better believe it," Liara replied, walking forward, "Cerberus is back, but the Illusive Man is not. I don't know much else, but I know that they are finally making their move. They've ordered a systematic assassination of everyone involved with Shepard. You were on his team, Samara, and one of his most trusted friends. You'll be on their hit list. They'll be coming for you; I don't know when, but they will be, and we both know who'll they'll send."

_"Samara, how nice to meet you," the words rolled from the man's lips like venom and honey mixed together, eyes gleaming with malicious intent, "You're one of Shepard's pets. I will enjoy gutting you and seeing what asari blood tastes like."_

_Samara shivered, but otherwise didn't falter under the man's gaze, Lesuss burning all around her, "I will end you, whoever you are."_

_The man smiled, "My name is Siren, for those I kill."_

The memory dissipated, Samara shaking it away, "Siren."

Liara nodded, "Exactly. I would recommend relocating."

Samara frowned at her, "What about Tali? Garrus? What of Tali's children? And everyone else."

"Tali is safe...Prometheus needs her alive to debrief Shepard," Liara informed her, "Garrus is much the same, but he is needed to build weapons; noone builds weapon like Vakarian Industries on Feros. I recently heard of Prometheus' attempt to end Thane'Shepard and Reby'Reegar's lives, but they survived the attack and currently reside on Virmire. As for Penya or Kaidan, I am unsure."

"And the others? Are they safe?" Samara asked, concern entering her tone.  _If Prometheus has harmed a single one of them, by the Justicar Code, I will destroy them._

Liara shook her head, regret in her eyes, "The others are...harder to maintain eyes on and have since disappeared, but Prometheus won't dare try and sever the head of Red Sky, so Miranda is also safe. As for the others, well..."

"I consider myself perfectly fine," said the familiar cheerful voice of a thief Samara once knew and the asari turned just in time to see the older, worn-out form of Kasumi Goto appear infront of her, a wide smile stretching across her features, "Broky here made sure I was informed of Promethean attempts to kill me before hand; I've tried contacting hubby, but I'm sure they won't hurt him. I managed to save Jessica though, and Ambassador Nara. They're back at the Shadow Broker's base."

"It is good to hear that. I have not heard so many friendly faces in all my decades on Alpha," Samara summarized, tone regretful, "I have missed you sorely."

"Don't get so mopey. Its only Prometheus wanting us all dead," Kasumi piped, crossing her arms, "Nothing out of the usual, right?"

Liara chuckled, "Its sad that the prospect of death is so casual to us," a moment of mirth between the group, before Glyph appeared at the Broker's side, voice the same dull, annoying monotone it always had been.

"Liara T'Soni," the drone drawled, "The base is secured. Agents are ready to pull out."

"Very well. Sound the call, myself and Miss Goto will follow soon," Liara replied, eying the asari viglante beside her as she then turned around, "As will you, I presume?"

Samara raised an eyebrow, "You presume wrong; I have a prisoner to deliver, and I will not fail my mission. Besides, the people of Alpha need me."

"You're not much of a justice-league hero if you're dead, Sam," Kasumi retorted, giving the asari towering above her frail frame a weary eye, "Alpha needs you, but Prometheus needs you  _dead._  Anyone connected with Shepard they want  _dead_. You can stay here, but they will find you eventually. You can't hide forever, and with the reputation of the 'Red Star' spreading, it won't be long before news reaches Dominion channels."

Samara considered the woman's words, and strongly considered going, but something held her back.  _And if they do come, and I'm gone? Will they kill everyone I've ever talked to? If I leave, how many lives will die to protect me from Promethean hands? And to let scum like Daro'Xen walk? Will Miranda even trust me to do such an errand ever again after letting her escape? No, I have a duty. My life has passed, and my death no longer hounds me. If I must die, I will do it protecting the innocent from Prometheus._

"No," Red dictated, taking both women beside her by surprise, "I will stay. If Prometheus want me, they can take me, but only my corpse. I have lived a full life and have no desire to keep living, or have any great need to keep doing so. I will die at my post, as I was always destined to."

Kasumi sighed, obviously disappointed by the asari's choice. Liara, however, seemed more sympathetic, if not  _understanding_ of what the viglante had to do. However, she couldn't help but noticed the twinge of disappointment in the asari's gaze as well, and knew that these two worried for her, something she was fond of.  _They care about me, and I reward their care by telling them I'm ready to die. But some emotions cannot be hidden; and this I must do._

Liara placed a firm hand on Samara's shoulder, face grim and devoid of the previous humor, "Then may the goddess watch over you, Red Star, for you will need it. You are wise and you are powerful, and I have no doubt you'll make Prometheus fight tooth and nail before giving in. I will leave two of my agents here under your command," she held a hand up to stall the asari's protest, "At least allow me that."

Samara sighed and gave in, nodding as Liara relieved her hand from gripping Samara's shoulder, before giving the asari a firm handshake and leaving, Glyph hovering on behind her. Kasumi let her gaze linger for awhile longer, before following behind the Shadow Broker, the rest of her agents following as Samara was left alone with a turian and a human. She turned to them, her face grim.

"I guess you two are now under my command," the two agents nodded at this, "Very well. Follow me, I have a prisoner for you to guard."

And Samara marched forth, two Shadow Broker operatives at her back as she left the Grim Skulls' base and headed for her skycar. Prometheus was on the move and would be prepared to hurt the innocent to kill Samara, this much she knew.

And Samara would do what she had for decades. She'd defend them, or die trying.

**{Loading...}**

_August 14, 2251_

_1959 hours._

_Broker's Office, Shadow Broker Base, Southern Hemisphere, Therum._

_Terra-Rannochian War._

_Spectre Jessica Alenko._

Jessica Alenko was not one who liked sitting around.

The entire base was almost completely silent, save the occassional hum of the base's power vibrating through the base and the sound of the Broker's agents moving by. She sat there, her armor removed and weapons stowed away, with her head in her hands and looking blankly at the floor, unable to find anything to do.  _This is what boredom is like._

There had been nothing to do since their escape from the Citadel four days ago, with the Broker's base being so well-hidden, that not even Prometheus couldn't find it, which made sure that Jessica would be bored out of her mind. Veetor had said that the lack of people trying to kill them should have been soothing and Kasumi...well, she had a feeling the thief was on similiar terms with the spectre, just not finding the idea of killing to survive being comforting.

 _Anything's better than just sitting here._ But Jessica was a wanted woman now; she didn't know what lies Prometheus was making up to make her look like a criminal, but they most certainly wanted, and now she was a fugitive.  _I'm technically not even a spectre anymore._ And they only wanted her dead because her father had been a friend of The Shepard's...figures.

 _We carry the burdens of our fathers, right?_ She missed her father, wandering what he would do in her situation, but quickly swatted the thought aside, the melancholy it brought not welcome in her current predicament.

The Shadow Broker's base was located deep underground on Therum, where the mass amounts of volcanic displacement and flows of lava kept them hidden from ground penetrating radar and sensors, making it the perfect place to place the discreet facility. At first, Jessica had been high on happiness to see her Aunt Liara again, but those thoughts had quickly died when Kasumi had told the asari about the recent attacks.

Liara had known; and she hadn't told anyone.

Jessica had shouted angry words, and the Broker had left with a sad expression, and Jessica and Veetor were informed that they could not leave the base for their own safety. A day later, Liara, Kasumi, and a platoon of operatives had left to warn the rest of Shepard's original team and their family before it was too late. The latest ping of info put their mission on Alpha to save Samara, who had refused to leave and stayed on the station.

So here she was, bored shitless, unable to do anything. She had been offered food, drink, supplies, magazines, books, games, and even a chance to watch the latest Blasto movie, but had declined all of them. One perverted man, her own species, had offered her a fornax magazine and she had been caught him eying her before, but she had rolled her eyes and ignored it. No point in scolding him.

She hadn't seen all that much of Veetor. The quarian had been surprisingly reserved, isolating himself ever since they went into hiding. He had barely spoken to her, but she had a feeling that the man was pretty devastated over losing his position as an ambassador, stating it had been 'all he had left' and had quickly isolated himself. She felt sorry for him, even if he was a politician, but she couldn't bring herself to confront him.

She wanted to shoot something. She wanted the feel of armor strapped to her body. She felt naked without it, and vulnerable without even a pistol. She raked a hand through her rare golden hair, sighing as she looked at the ground, desperately wanting to do something.  _I'm a soldier through and through._ She was hugely attractive by most species standards, and even the scar on her face didn't belittle her features, but she still didn't have time for romance. Plus, it was against regulations.

_Not that it matters anymore. My own people have turned against me._

_And what? You thought you could trust them? After what they...did..._

Tears welled up and she wiped them away, trying to keep the facade of the unfazed soldier up, even if no one currently occupied the room.  _I don't want to be alone. I get time to think when I'm alone; thinking leads to bad memories...I don't want to remember. I want to forget. I want to forget all of it. I need something to do._

So Jessica stood up, straightening out her clothes; a plain shirt with a pair of jeans and boots, and quickly approached the door, palming the interface and opening it. The door slid open without a sound, the whoosh of air as the two steel plates parted being but a whisper, and she practically glided through the frame, turning on her heels to move down the corridor.

It was chilly, with all the base's air conditioning systems active, but it was obvious that Therum's heat would always win out. The base literally sat ontop of a massive pocket of volcanic mass, with the builder's of the base making it so that the lowest deck of the facility was the thermal heating plant that kept the base operating, using the extracted heat and lava to power the systems. It also ensured that noone came looking.

But due to the sheer power of Therum's environment, the air conditioning did little but give you a swift breeze, with the heat always winning out, the colder areas being the top most decks. Jessica, as it was now, was closer to the volcanic activity, and she was sweating like a pig. She saw it in the operatives she walked past too; only the turians, krogan and geth being unaffected by it; the first two had been born on worlds that were almost always hot, while the third was a machine; sentient, but still unable to feel heat.

As she moved along the corridors of the base, heading for the elevator leading outside, Jessica wandered if Liara had chosen Therum as the place for her new base of operations because of its advantageous surroundings, or because of a feeling of nostalgia.  _This is the planet where she first met Shepard, afterall. Maybe she chose it for both? The ideal location, possibly?_

She continued moving forward, trying to memorize the layout. The Shadow Broker's base was located one kilometer underground, buried under untold amounts of volcanic ash, rock and lava. It was scary to think about; one hull breach and a flood of lava could pour in and burn them all to death, that, or rock could blow the structural integrity, and they'd all get buried in a fiery tomb of molten rock.

The lone elevator shaft that extended from the base to the surface was extremely small to make an enemy assault difficult to coordinate; the only problem with this plan is that if the shaft collapsed, they would all effectively be trapped.  _Teleporation would be really handy in this day and age. All this technology, and we still can't do that! All the Star Trek fans must be rolling in their graves._

Her line of thought ceased as she finally reached the elevator, the door guarded by two operatives, both of them turians. She nodded to them as she went past, palming the interface and moving to go inside when one turian outstretched his arm, blocking her path. She shot him a look, but found only his helmet.

"Sorry ma'am, Broker's orders were very clear," the turian droned, "Noone leaves; no surface activity. Can't risk Prometheans finding you, or some Dominion citizen. You're on wanted posters all over the galaxy, and if someone were to see you...we can't risk it ma'am. You're to stay here until the Broker returns."

"I'm going for some fresh air, and I can handle myself," Jessica told him, "I'll be discreet and your boss doesn't have to know."

"I'm sure you can handle yourself; but this isn't a matter of fighting ability. We're not going to get killed because you wanted fresh air."

Jessica moved until she was in his face, but with the helmet on she couldn't tell whether he was intimidated or not by her form, "So I'm a prisoner am I?"

The turian looked confused and shook his head, "No, of course not! This isn't a prison-"

"Can I leave when I want?"

The operative stopped and scratched the back of his neck, "Well, not exactly, but-"

"So I'm a prisoner," Jessica cut in, moving closer, "Well  _this_ prisoner will get out, even if I have to make a prison break. I will not be holed up in here like some kind of pet. Let me through, or I'll see how far turian arms can bend back before they snap."

The guard shifted uncomfortably, eying his companion, but seeing no help forthcoming, he turned back to the ex-spectre, sighing heavily, "Fine, but if you get spotted...this place doesn't exist."

"I know how it works dolt," Jessica snarled, stepping past the turian and into the elevator, slamming the button for the surface level. A whir of mechanics, a screech of motors, and then the box slowly lifted, before finally shooting up, covering the distance in mere seconds, but making Jessica almost feel like her stomach was lifting up to come out of her throat. The feeling made her quesy.

The box finally stopped its ascent, the door sliding open with the sound of rock grinding against rock; it made her cover her ears in haste, the sound almost like nails against a chalkboard. As she looked outside, she felt heat slam into her in an instant, the constant change between boiling temperature and freezing finally becoming just boiling as the heat rippling off the lava heated the environment.

She stepped outside onto the surface of Therum, looking behind her to see the door shutting again, but not seeing a door, but a seemingly moving mass of rock and dust and dirt shifting to cover the grey interior.  _So cliche, yet so clever. Still going to take some time getting used to._ She chuckled at her own thoughts, turning back around to let her eyes glaze over the scene.

Therum; a completely unremarkable world that had only been famous due to the Battle of Therum seventy years ago during the Eden Prime War. Hell, the planet had been practically ignored by the Reapers during the war due to the lack of population and the Council didn't even bother to contest Coalition claim over the world in the Post-Apocalyptic War.

Therum wasn't a popular place to live because of how unbearable a world it was. The planet was essentially one massive fireball, with nothing but volcanoes and lava and boiling heat occupying its barren surface, black clouds and plumes of smoke and ash coating the atmosphere. It was the definition of hell.

Yet, a colony existed; Nova Yekaterinburg, named after the city of Yekaterinburg in Russia, back on Earth. It wasn't a big city, with only a barely sustained, consistent populace of 34,000 people; a once multicultural minipolis, now turned into a major factory for Dominion heating cores for weapons, ships and vehicles. Therum had turned from a barely occupied world to a world that was inhabited only by mechs and, obliviously, the home of the Shadow Broker.

Luckily, their base was located hundreds of kilometers away from Nova Yekaterinburg, so they were well out of range of any Dominion patrols and escaped the toxic fumes that the war factory released. Jessica had half a mind to storm the factory and burn it to the ground, but she knew it was suicidal, and the thoughts were pointless; Prometheus was to blame, not the Dominion.

_Is there even a difference anymore?_

She growled, pacing around on the dust-smitten ground, clouds of ash kicking up in thick clouds on the ground or her feet simply scrapping rock. She was once again left to her thoughts, not knowing what to do to rid herself of them. Everywhere she looked was the same; glowing lava slowly trickling down in rivers, or the same black clouds. Everything was the same, and it wasn't helping Jessica calm down one bit.

_Why can't I just-_

She stopped and froze to the spot. A sound. Distant. Growing ever closer. But recognizable.

An approaching ship.

She spun around and immediately spotted a rock to hide behind, which hastily ducked behind, listening as she rolled up and heard the sound grow louder, very rapidly. She peeked over the rock, making sure her golden hair was obscured.

The sound skyrocketed and reached a screeching crescendo, the ship suddenly appearing overhead and she almost gasped when she saw its colors; purple and green.  _A quarian republican gunship. Must be one of the patrols. But what is it doing all the way out here?_ She peeked back over the rock, getting a better look at the vessel that now hovered over her location.  _They...haven't found us have they? I hope so. I'm itching for a fight._

It was a A-68 Seraph gunship, the successor to the obsolete A-67 Mantis, standard issue among all Dominion military forces and far superior to its predecessor. It was an odd looking ship; more akin to a bird of prey in shape. The design was sleek and flawless, the main body of the vessel at the back with two melded wings, the rest of the ship a narrow structure stretching out like a long neck, ending with the cockpit, quarian insignia painted on its sides.

The wings held a deadly arsenal; an entire array of Typhon automated siege rockets lined its wings, accompanied by a fellow array of Stheno ship-to-ship missiles. A single rotating plasma nonlinear chaingun lay on the chin of the vehicle; not rotating in the sense of a turret, but more like a minigun would when dispersing rounds.

The gunship was heavily shielded, but had sacrificed heavy armor plating to make it more agile and swift in combat. One well placed siege rocket would gut the vessel, but getting to hit its target was the pain in the neck. So, for the Seraph, the only achilles heel really was the armor; the rest was perfection. A long line of decoy deployers lay on top of the wings of the vehicle and four ballista anti-infantry Shadow heavy machine guns; she flinched when she saw them, two on each wing. It took a yahg to wield such weapons, as the recoil was too great for even a krogan, and the weapon's firepower could literally reduce a man to pieces of flesh.

The sound of the Seraph's engine was constant and rang in her ears like a loud ring, the added heat from the vehicle's engines making it hard not to shift. But she stayed hidden behind the rock, hoping to god that the gunship pilot didn't have the sense to use his sensors; thermal vision would be useless on a planet like Therum, but sensors would easily pick her up, especially the Cardia sensors, which could pick up someone's heart rate and home in on it.

She watched the vessel slowly turn around while still hovering there, the human spectre wondering if the gunship would ever notice her.  _It shouldn't even be out here...its far outside its normal patrol pattern...did they see us land? No, they can't have...we were cloaked!_

To her immense relief, the gunship seemed satisfied that the area was empty and immediately began to speed up, before shooting off into the distance at speeds that would make most 21st century jet fighter pilots curse in awe. A blast of heat impacted her face from the sudden burst of energy from the vessel's engines, but it quickly died and she stood up, finding herself...shaking.

 _They almost saw me...if they did...Prometheus...I was defenseless..._ But it was a quarian gunship; maybe if she was captured and taken to Rannoch...no, she couldn't risk Aunt Tali's life like that. The woman was old now, and the last she needed was to bring about an assassination attempt on the poor woman's life. No, she had to lay low. If the galaxy thought her dead, so be it.

 _They won't continue thinking that if the Dominion spot me. Why did the Broker have to build a secret base on the same planet as a heavily-patrolled Dominion ammo factory? God I hate my luck sometimes..._ With a sigh, she turned back to the elevator door and hurriedly moved towards it.

_Time to go back into hiding before someone spots me._

It was going to be a very long game of hide-and-seek.

**{Loading...}**

_August 14, 2251_

_1835 hours._

_Hall of Ascension, Sacred Tower, Tranquility Dome, Titan._

_Terra-Rannochian War._

_Covenant Prophet Eluam Ran'perah._

The elevator climb up the Sacred Tower of the Covenant was long and drawn out, but the view was magnificient. So, there he stood, Eluam Ran'perah, Batarian Prophet of the Holy Covenant of Titan, ascending to the Hall of Ascension, where his rightful throne awaited him.

He wore his finest armor, the armor that only a Covenant Prophet had the right to wear; it was heavy, and wore the bright crimson red of the Covenant. It was similiar in design to standard turian armor, and was almost the same was it not for the extended 'backpack' like attachment on the rear of it that acted as an antennae in a way and protected him from the effects of indoctrination.

His omni-tool was powered to activate a powerful omni-sword on his right arm, and a omni-shield on his left, the Covenant preferring to use more ceremonial weapons when not on the battlefield. The body of a Leviathan served as the Covenant's insignia, painted on his shoulderpads and the front of his chest; a declaration and symbolization of just who they worshipped. The batarian's four eyes gleamed behind a full-head helmet, with a cyan-colored cloak on his back to signify his status as a Prophet.

The armor was covered in multiple scars and bullet holes, along with a scorch mark on the back; all battle wounds sustained from previous prophets, Ran'perah being only the fourth Covenant Prophet to attain his position. However, the damage sustained from its time worn by the Third Prophet, Si Pel, had been too severe to be repaired, and the armor had to be completely replaced; not to mention upgraded due to many flaws having been discovered in the original. Ever since Si Pel's death, it was now rare for the Prophet to ever lead troops into battle, preferring to stay on Titan.

The elevator around him was about seven meters in width and length, being large enough to squeeze a Wraith inside. It was made of polished, majestic steel, carved to perfection and as smooth as a woman's skin. A large ring rimmed the lift with the shape of a Leviathan carved in the middle, the shape carved out of thick, heavily reinforced glass, which was so thick that even a Wraith would take time breaking it.

The Sacred Tower was a tall building, being three times longer than Harbinger had been; and it had been six kilometers in length. It was almost the exact same design as the Citadel Tower, but much thicker and fatter, more heavily enforced and the spire of the top was much bigger, looking alot like a pyramid in its shape.

So, as tall as it was, the elevator ride would obviously be a long and tedious ride. Luckily, the designers had seen fit to think of this beforehand and had removed the wall infront of the lift and replaced it by reinforced glass like the one on the lift itself, allowing a beautiful view of the Tranquility Dome; Titan's greatest achievement.

The Tranquility Dome, or Tranquil or simply 'the Dome', as many have come to call it, was the main structure of Titan, the upper area that served as the main megapolis and was the area seen in most of the vids transmitted throughout Covenant space and Dominion propaganda advertisements. It was one gigantic glass dome; enforced with the thick titanium beams used to be build Reapers, glass so thick it would take a ship ramming it to break it, and shielding so powerful that it would take the biggest fleet in the galaxy or a mole to shut it down.

The dome itself was a colossal 116 kilometers in length and width, and below its glass depths, was the city itself; skyscrapers of perfected batarian, turian, tilthan and yahg architecture all melded together, with skycars zooming through its streets and Covenant citizens going about their daily lives, with every city quadrant devoting a sizable mass of area to a Church of the Leviathan, allowing all to hear the truth of the apex race.

Titan itself was 327 kilometers in size, with 116 of it taken up by the Dome, while the other 211 kilometers was taken up skipyards, military bases, docks, civilian housing, more churches, armouries, forges, the power station, main reactor (which, alone, took up about ten kilometers), the industrial sector, the gardens and, of course, the Lake of Grace. Overall, Titan was a feat pulled off by the greatest of architects, a conglomeration of Reaper tech, and stolen schematics of the Citadel.

Titan itself was in the Cresent Nebula, in orbit of the Tasale Relay. Illium was even under Covenant control, and had supplied most of the eezo needed to construct the monster of a station, and was a staging ground for a major Covenant eezo facility and naval base. It was war the Prophet had recently returned from.

He growled angrily as his view of the Dome was obstructed, replaced red wall as the elevator began its final ascent into the Hall of Ascension. He have a sigh and wiped the scowl from his batarian features as the elevator slowed to a stop, having stopped in the middle of a massive chamber. The roof was at least forty meters above him, with a sphere of light hovering just below its apex symbolizing the globe of Desponia 2181; the current location of the Leviathans; their gods, the one and true apex species.

Rows upon rows of seats occupied the sides of the room, with the elevator being a lone platform in the middle of a massive congregation room. All seats lay empty of course, as the Covenant's leadership hadn't been assembled, and if he turned, he would see another testament to the Leviathans; a statue of Bellerophon, the leader of the gods.

He moved forward, down a red carpet that extended thirty meters before stopping at a raised dias supporting a throne, its edges jagged and sharp, and another observation window occupied the space behind the throne, with a water fountain just infront of the window and spraying water into a sizable pond. Just outside the window and the dome, you could see the Tasale Relay, pulsing with blue energy and currently swarming with activity, as a batarian dreadnought returned from patrol duty, along with its escorts.

Aligning the carpet's sides were the Prophet's elite guardsmen; Covenant Caliphs. They stood in rows, twenty of them currently on duty, with ten on each side of the carpet he marched down, with one extra serving as the Chief Caliph, or, as many called the position, the Ghost. The Caliphs were a specific sect of the Covenant military tasked with the protection of the Prophet, and would willingly die to protect him/her. Any gender was allowed to sign up, but once they had, they had to pass three specfic tests; the abandonment of emotion, the purity of faith, and the sacrifice of being.

The first test involved the person dumping who they once were, abandoning all signs of emotion and becoming a servant of the Prophet, a true believer; similiar to indoctrination, but more gradual and voluntary. The second stage involved many brutal tests that many failed; they had to show how pure their faith was by doing everything the Prophet said; maybe it involved self-injury, maybe it involved reaching a certain rank in the military. But some crueler prophets, most notably the Second Prophet, might order them to kill their own kin, to which the Second Prophet ordered the current Ghost to do, and he had done it; he had slit the throat of his own wife, killed his own children and bombed a nursery home, killing his grandparents.

The third one involved the transformation of a man or woman into a complete husk; they had to sacrifice all things pleasurable and desirable and abandon everything they held dear. For many this involved divorce, for others, it meant throwing out all their possessions. But for all genders; it meant castration; men and women were forced to cut off their genitals (for men, they must cut off their penis and testicles, and for women, they must get a vaginal hysterectomy). This completes the process.

By this point, they have gone through special Caliph training where they become immune to pain, do not get angry and talk back, cannot comprehend treachery and do not require much food or drink to consume. They become the ultimate soldier. Many don't survive the tests, and in the end, the Caliph group only has seventy-two members, with one Ghost as leader.

So, as he walked past, the Caliphs didn't even nod to him; they just stood there, men and women of batarian, tilthan and turian birth, all staring blankly at nothing, not even acknowledging his presence, despite knowing he was there. They wore the same crimson red armor he did, but wore red cloaks instead of white and their helmet had two struts poking out the middle, with a T like visor in the middle of the visor, opaque externally. They also held omni-swords at their sides, along with two high-powered plasma pistols and one omni-shield brandished on one side and helmet up to their side, always active.

He moved down the carpet until he arrived at the throne, where one Caliph, the Ghost, stood to his left, his posture straighter and more majestic than the others, her broadened shoulders and flat chest almost fooling people into thinking she was a man. Her helmet was larger and her armor a more blackened color, with her cloak flowing a combination of white and red. She was a Tilthan, her name having once been Clarity, but had since given up that name to become the Ghost of the Caliphs; his most trusted servant.

He stood past the Ghost and sat in this throne; the chair easily towering over him; built to withstand a yahg. Prophets could be any species, but so far, only one non-batarian had been Prophet, and that turian hadn't lasted long. The chair was semi-comfortable; with a steel surface and a cushioned backrest.

He turned to his Ghost, speaking hoarsely, "Where's this benefactor you told me about?"

Clarity's answer was short and collected, monotoned and emotionless, "Coming."

"How long?"

"Not long."

He sighed heavily, "Give me an estimate. A proper estimate."

Clarity seemed to stop for a minute and then afterwards responded, not even looking at her Prophet, "An estimate of ten minutes, sir."

He grunted, turning away from the Chief Caliph, "Fuck. The man's a slow behemoth. Can't blame him though; he is a yahg, afterall."

Wral;Bopa was one of the most boring yahg he had ever known. For a species based solely on violence, Wral was the worst warrior he had ever seen. He fought like a child and was good for nothing except for being a nice meat-shield. Wral wasn't a historian, a Covenant priest or even a politician; he was just...cannon fodder. That's the only way that Eluam could describe the beast.

So he sat there, in total silence, waiting for the yahg to get his fat ass into the Hall of Ascension so that they could get these talks over with. Eluam wasn't one for wasting time with these talks, and he had more pressing matters to concern himself with.  _Like getting past that damn Maginot Line and striking at the Citadel. I'll kill those humans, suit-rats and overbloated crocadiles in no time. Think they're so safe._

Finally, ten minutes later, the colossal yahg arrived and talks began. He spoke of their victory over the Dominion wolf-pack involved with the incident at Gellix, and how most of their ground forces were overwhelmed by a sudden swarm of rachni. Overall, he judged the attack a victory, even if it was small.  _We destroyed a few corvettes, how nice...I'd be more impressed if we had destroyed a dreadnought, or the Revengeance..._

No, he would not bring that disgraceful ship name to bear.

The yahg seemed to stop talking, but that was only because he was waiting for the Prophet's response on his words. The batarian fixed the yahg with a comical expression before speaking, "A phyrric victory at best. What did we destroy? A few corvettes and two defenseless space stations? And what did we get out of it? We send a thousand troops on the ground, and they all get slaughtered by rachni. All those losses...for a few light picket warships."

The yahg fumed, his gloating evaporating, "Their forces would have grown in strength."

"Then you should have waited and attacked them first," the Prophet scoffed, laughing, "Maybe I'd be more impressed if you brought me the hull of a krogan battleship instead of a piece of metal from a corvette. Maybe, if had let those stations get completed and then attacked, I'd be slightly more appeased. The Leviathans do not reward the destruction of the little, only the strong."

The yahg thumped a fist against its chest, "Leviathans are eternal," the words came from his mouth hurried, like they meant nothing.  _Disrespectful maggot._ "But maybe the Prophet is angry because we did not destroy the Revengeance."

_Again with that name!_

He shot up from his chair like a bullet, and he swore he saw Clarity flinch, only to see the Tilthan tense up and slightly lower her omni-sword in preparation for a fight. Her Caliphs mimicked her movements, like they were wired to her body and did what she did.  _They're like mirrors. She makes the movement, they copy._

He fixed the yahg was an ice cold glare, "Do not ever mention that name again. That ship and her captain are to never be heard of in this chamber, am I understood?"

"But I-"

He nodded to one of his Caliphs, and without hesitation, an omni-sword shot out and cut deep into the yahg's thigh, causing it to grunt in pain as it landed on one knee, the Caliph twisting the energy blade, and then ripping it back out, grey blood pouring out of the wound as the honor guard stepped back, gaze unwavering as the yahg shot him a murderous glare before the Prophet spoke, drawing back his attention.

"That ship's name and its captain's will never be mentioned again," the Prophet repeated, words pure steel and authority, "Am. I. Clear?"

"Perfectly," the yahg moaned.

"Unfortunate," the Prophet lamented, moving to sit down again, "And I was looking forward to being rid of you. Well, I've tolerated you this long." He was about to speak again when he felt a powerful presence and he immediately recognized what it was. He held a hand up, signalling everyone to stop moving and talking as the voice of Bellerophon, leader of the Leviathans, entered his mind.

_The darkness has been breached._

The Prophet frowned.  _"Breached, Lord Bellero?"_

_Yes. The insects have seen fit to defile our land once more. They come to speak to me, and I will give them what they want, but you must be ready to eliminate them. They come with plans to excavate me and my brethren._

_"How?"_

_It does not matter how; only when. They must be stopped. We are the Leviathans, the apex race and pinnacle of organic evolution. We are unmatched. We will not bow down to these apes, and we require your assistance in this matter. Send a fleet. I want you there personally._

_"As you wish, Lord Bellero. It shall be done. I will make them burn."_

_Very good, Prophet._

And with that, Bellerophon's voice dissipated and he looked at his cohorts, gathering his thoughts. Every Prophet, when they achieved their position, was baptized in the waters of Desponia and given the 'Kiss of the Leviathans.' He would dive underwater, reach the Leviathans, and only then was he deemed worthy of his rank and position and power. They then entered his mind, some fools would call it indoctrination, and he became a part of them; the biggest honor a member of the Covenant could have.

"Gather the Fleet of Penance," he ordered, "We leave for Desponia. Our gods have called for help; the apes have dared to defile their land and they must be purged in holy fire."

_**A/N:** _

_**Sudden ending? Deal with it!** _

_**Anyway, I'm back in action and ready to get this show on the road. I must apologize for the massive delay, but as I've said, my computer's motherboard is dead, so I'm looking at a totally new motherboard OR, failing that, a new computer. This will be one of the last 2251-focused chapters of Requiem, so just a heads up.** _

_**So, what is the Revengeance? And her captain? Why do the Covenant hate it so much? Take a guess in the review section.** _

_**And yes, the Covenant in this are largely based on the Covenant from the Halo trilogy. Hell, when I thought of what Titan would look like, I was largely inspired by High Charity. xD** _


	15. Deathship

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Cerberus and the Shadow Broker combine their forces and attack the Rayya. Shepard's crew and the quarian marines mount a defense.

**REQUIEM**

**CHAPTER FOURTEEN:**

**DEATHSHIP**

_October 29, 2185_

_1339 hours._

_Shuttle Bay, Normandy-Class Stealth Frigate Normandy SR-2, Docked with the Rayya._

_Subject Zero Jack, Justicar Samara, First Lieutenant Miranda Lawson._

Jack was distracted. It was obvious.

She knew why.

But she didn't address it.

She needed to take her anger out on something.

And she had expected to take it out on Samara. Instead, she got the cheerleader.

Even better.

She screamed obscenities, her body glowing with blue fire as she sent strike after strike at Miranda, the woman, initially, holding her off like her attacks were nothing. But slowly, and gradually, Jack's attacks increased in strength, and Miranda weakened and got tired, making her more and more sloppy.

The convict's face was screwed up in a look of sheer hatred and rage, her fists and legs charging forth with a maelstrom of biotic assaults; unrelenting, unwavering, and unwilling to tire. Already her muscles began to ache, but she was so full of adrenaline that she just couldn't bring herself to notice. Her broken arm from the Collector Base by this point had completely healed, so her biotics were now completely unhindered; ready for full release.

She was Jack; the psychotic biotic. The most powerfulest bitch this side of the galaxy. A scared girl, encased by pure biotic powerhouse. An experiment by Cerberus gone wrong. She was the nameless girl, named Jack, and she was angry. Oh yes, she was  _fucking angry._ At what you ask? Well, had Jack told herself that she'd be pissed off over rejection before meeting Shepard on Purgatory, she would have laughed her ass off and called herself a sappy little cunt.

But now she had been rejected. By Commander Shepard. And she wasn't laughing.

She screamed until she was blue in the face (no pun intended) and she was unable to stop, even if she wanted to. Not that she would. Seeing Miranda's exhausted and shocked expression, not to mention beating the perfect Cerberus bitch into a pulp was the most satisfying thing she had ever done, and it put a sadistic grin on Jack's lips, one she noticed Miranda sneer at.  _Perfect little cunt, aren't you? What's wrong? Getting beaten by the nine-tenths naked woman? Oh, is that some blood on your lip? Did I break a fucking nail? Did I accidentally wipe some of your mascara? Well too bad! I've seen you eying Shepard! But the perfect bitch didn't get him!_

Jack sneered.

Neither did she.

And  _that's_ what made her angry.

So when Jack's fist finally broke through Miranda's defenses and smashed into the side of Miranda's jaw, causing the woman to double backwards in double mixtures of shock and pain, Jack could only laugh in triumph. She didn't stop though; using what Samara taught her, she ducked low and swung a leg out, sweeping the woman's feet out from under her and causing her to collapse onto the ground in a crumpled heap.

Her assault complete, Jack stood up and sent a biotic kick towards Miranda's side, but Jack had forgotten one thing; Miranda was not some whore; as much as her clothing said otherwise, and the way she strutted around. She was a Cerberus soldier, and as much as it disgusted Jack to admit it, she was a damn good soldier. Not to mention a leader.

Miranda shifted to the side, causing Jack's stomping foot to land squarely on the titanium surface of the bay, positioning her body so that she faced Jack's leg. Using the momentum she gained, Miranda glowed with biotics and she repeated Jack's own action, causing the convict this time to collapse onto the ground. And unlike Jack, Miranda did not take time to take pride in what she did; she simply did.

A heel pinned her to the ground via the throat, and Miranda looked down at her with a cold expression, blood trickling down her lip. From what she could tell, Jack had not only done that, but had also broken the cheerleader's nose too.  _Loving the pain, whore? Fucking eat it, you australian shit._

Jack wasn't done; and she entered back into full rage mode. Her hands shooting up, a burst of energy blasted from her palms, a powerful shockwave, one of the strongest ever built, slammed into Miranda, sending the woman literally  _gliding_ across the shuttle bay to land a mere inch from the elevator door, just short of her head hitting the door.  _It would have opened like a melon, I fucking bet._

Jack shot up onto her feet and made a progressive moment towards Miranda who, despite herself, still had trouble getting back to her feet, taken offguard by the sheer force of the convict's shockwave.  _Underestimated me, did you? Serves you right._ The human biotic moved forward with sadism in is intent, biotic fire consuming her entire frame as it prepared to rip the cheerleader apart.  _And Shepard will be so angry. But I'm past giving a fuck about what that self-righteous xenophile retard cunt thinks!_

A biotic fist raised in the air, only for a familiar calm, cool, soothing voice to raise through the air, catching both Jack and Miranda's attention, this time laced with worry and concern, "Jack, that is quite enough!"

Miranda didn't look at the source of the voice though; she only looked at Jack as the convict approached. Jack didn't turn either, just fixing the bitch infront of her with a glare full of vehemence, ice and cold.  _How about that, ice-queen? Fight ice with ice?_

"Fuck you grandma!" Jack cursed back, not even turning to face Samara.

Miranda tried to get up, but Jack wasn't giving her the time too and when she reached the human...she would tear her apart. She would savor the woman's screams, she would enjoy making her eyes pop and sizzle...and she would plunge a hand deep into her fucking vagina and she would  _rip_ her clit out.  _This isn't me...I don't take pleasure in-SHUT THE FUCK UP! I'M GOING TO KILL THIS BITCH AND IT'LL BE SHEPARD'S FAULT!_

_FUCK YOU SHEPARD! YOU COULD HAVE BEEN MINE!_

_Selfish._

_He's happy; if you love him, shouldn't you be happy for him?_

_Idiotic._

_You'll murder someone you hate to justify rejection._

_Is she worth the energy?_

_SHUT THE FUCK UP! ALL OF YOU! SHUT IT!_

Jack was meters from Miranda, her body and emotions seizing control as she hurled forward, reading to tear the helpless cheerleader to bits...

...only to fly away from her like a kite's strings being tugged away, the convict slamming into the wall behind her and falling to the ground, the lingering effects of foreign biotics lingering on her already numbly cold form. She growled...no, she  _snarled_ , a feral, animalistic sound, as she stood to her full height, pure, unhinged rage in her body as she came to stand on both legs and faced her attacker, eyes glowing with pure death. She eyed the one who took away her prize.

Samara. The fucking grandma.

Samara faced Jack, Miranda having already crawled away and behind a support beam to get away from Jack's pure blood rage. She was obviously going to contact Shepard when Samara raised an arm, telling her to let the justicar deal with it. Miranda agreed, and Samara turned back to Jack, hand help up.

"Stop this Jack," Samara scolded her in a motherly tone, but her voice was still cool and calm, "This madness has to stop. This is not like you. You are a hateful person...but the look in your eyes, it is one a predator gives when he spots prey. Explain yourself Jack...you can tell me what is wrong."

Jack growled again through gritted teeth, stepping forward, "You will shut your pretty little fucking trap or I'll shut it for you! What I do is  _none_ of your fucking business!"  _How much I want to tell you. But my body...so much rage...I need to...I need to get...get it off my chest. I...need to vent. That cheerleader...she was so close. I could smell her blood. I could practically taste it. I wanted to rip her apart; I really did. Maybe Zaeed has had a bad influence on me..._

_Zaeed._

That old bastard refused to die. There he lay, in the med bay, being tended to by Doctor Chakwas, and riddled with bullets in every area of the body imaginable. And still, he lived. Noone knew if he could keep it up, especially after taking two bullets to the head, but maybe he would.  _If only he was awake. He'd know what to say to me, the grizzled old man. Him and his fucking love affair with that rifle of his. Guess it didn't save you in the end, did it?_

_At least it didn't reject him._

Samara spoke once more, tone soft and Miranda nowhere in sight, "Listen to reason, Jack. This is unnecessary. I do not know the source of what causes you this anger, but I have seen it before in many young asari. I recognize the taint of grief. Of fear. I know what it feels like, Jack. I know how it feels."

"What the fuck would you know!?" Jack shouted.

Samara was still as collected as could be, but Jack  _swore_ she saw a tear bypass the asari's defenses, "I felt the same when I had to kill the smartest of my daughter. Just because I did not go on an attempted killing frenzy does not mean I didn't feel it; I am just better at hiding it. Please Jack, I can help you. Shepard can help you."

_Why would he? He rejected me. But you don't know that._

"Jack?"

_I offered him sex. He turned me down. I thought him a boy-scout._

"Jack? Come here. Its okay."

_He helped me on Pragia. I had my suspicions._

"Jack."

_I wanted him. Oh my fucking god...yes, I wanted him..._

"Jack! Look at me! Calm yourself!"

_Then I tried to take him...he was going to be mine...but he pushed me away. He wanted Tali more than he wanted me. He wanted a quarian trapped behind a suit more than he wanted somebody of his own damn species._

" _JACK!_ "

_I could have had him. And he pushed me away. For_ _**her** _ _._

_And she loved him._

With a chaotic war cry, Jack charged forth, her planned barrage of destruction aimed directly at Samara. Miranda, wide-eyed, turned away and fled for the elevator, entering the box and hitting the button for an upper deck. Just as the doors shut, Jack reached Samara, and her fist came down in one fell swoop.

Samara blocked it with her arm and pushed Jack back with a small burst of energy; a simple breath of the wind compared to what the justicar could truly do, and only enough to slightly push her away. Jack scoffed at the pathetic gesture and charged again, this time sending a biotic shockwave in the asari's direction.

Samara gracefully leapt over it and this time sent a rougher wave of energy, a small shockwave causing Jack to stumble backwards as Samara landed lightly, like a gliding bird coming in for landing, and the asari held Jack's gaze. But Jack saw something new in it; understanding.

_She knows what I must do. She knows I must do this. How the fuck does she do that...?_

Jack didn't even acknowledge the asari as she charged forth again, like a rocket of biotics racing towards its destination. Samara strafed to the side effortlessly, letting Jack shoot past as she did. Jack shifted her weight distribution with her biotics and came to a stop, before turning back around and launching herself into the air, before coming back down with her fist raised, smashing it into the ground.

An explosion of biotic energy rippled out, sending waves of uncontained power out all around the convict, sending crates and all manner of equipment flying within the blast radius, but Samara only seemed to stumble alittle, the asari's biotic form holding stable as she encased herself in a temporary stasis field.  _Smart bitch..._

So, Jack pulled the next trick out of her sleeve and powered up a ball of biotic energy in her right arm, before shooting it forth, and letting loose a cannonball of biotic energies. Samara, noticing the dark energy flare, raised a barrier just in time to save herself from the colossal explosion that ensued, sending Jack flying into a steel beam and leaving a massive scorch mark where Samara had deflected the attack, the asari lowering her arm.

"A flare," the justicar pondered, impressed, "A powerful ability; usually used as a form of biotic artillery strike. And slamming your fist into the ground? A nova. Another useful ability. I would like to see what else you can do."

"Fuck off bitch," Jack snapped and charged forth, charging with biotic energy once more, and Samara only waited for her, as confident and calm as ever. Not cocky, but cool. Calculated. Cold.

Jack went all out on the justicar. She didn't let up, her attacks swift and brutal, and occassionally, like with Miranda, one would break through, but Samara was alot more collected than Miranda, and she learned quickly and adapted. But she could tell the asari was tiring, and Jack only had to keep pressing. If she gave up now and stopped, she wouldn't able to keep the tears in. She wouldn't be able to bottle them up. And she wasn't a pussy.

"Jack, look at me," Samara ordered, eyes persistent, "Violence solves nothing. Stop this. Stop this madness right now."

_Screw you..._

"Do it."

_...I can't..._

"Now."

_Please...don't make me do it...I don't want to..._

But she did it; Jack's body, finally exhausted, collapsed to the ground, dry-heaving for air. Samara stood over her, looking down on the pitiful convict as the rage began to melt from her eyes, her body relaxed and her biotics died down. During all of this, Jack just looked at the ground, unwilling to look up.

_Please don't...I can't do it...I'm not that kind of-_

Then Samara was crouching next to her, a comforting hand on her shoulder. Normally she'd swat it off, but this time, all Jack did was look up and meet the asari's gaze. Its calculating gaze was gone, replaced by a warmth, a caring, an understanding. Jack saw a side of Samara she had never encountered before.

And Samara was about to see a side of Jack she had never shown anyone.

Noone but  _him._

Tears burst from Jack's eyes as she began to sob, her mental barriers unable to stop Samara's onslaught and collapsing, and Samara rushed in. She wrapped her arms around Jack's frail form, which was now wracked with weeping as Jack sobbed and sobbed. It felt good to finally let it all out; to stop pretending to be in control. To stop pretending to a be tough, unbeatable bitch. It felt nice to be... _human._

Tears dripped off Samara's shoulderpad as she cradled Jack's head there, but she didn't seem to notice, whispering kind words into Jack's ear, most likely in the asari language, and there was a motherly tone lacing her words. Jack's arms gripped at Samara, trying to hold her close so that all the grief poured out.

Seconds went by. Minutes. Eventually, half an hour later, Jack pushed herself away from Samara, wiping at her eyes and the mascara dripping from below her eyes. She sniffed, drying to get rid of all evidence of her sobbing. Samara simply nodded, understanding that Jack needed a moment to collect herself before speaking. She crossed her legs in a cross-legged sitting position, while Jack assumed her normal sitting position; on her butt, legs spread out like some impatient teenager.

After a moment, Jack managed to choke out the one word that plagued her thoughts, "Shepard."

Samara cocked her head in confusion, raising an eyebrow, "Shepard?"

Jack nodded, sighing heavily, "Yeah...Shepard."

"What about him?" Samara asked, head still cocked.

Another sigh. An inhale of breath. A third sigh, "I had a...I was...damn it, I'm not good with this shit. Things were so much better when I got just rip everything apart and I could kill those who screwed me over. But him...damn it!"

"Slow down and tell me what is wrong," Samara requested, unmoving, "Now, tell me what Shepard has done to cause you such anger and grief."

Jack decided she might as well just come out with it, "He rejected me."

"Rejected you...?" Samara asked, obviously wanting her to elaborate.

Jack rolled her eyes, "I told him I wanted him and...I think I loved him, I think I  _love_ him, and tried to fuck him right there and then. But he pushed me away. I insisted. Then he  _biotically_ shoved me away; the piece of shit." She slammed a fist into the ground, a burst of biotic energy coming forth, but it was tiny and barely noticable.

Samara raised both brows this time, "I did not realize your feelings for the Commander. However, it would seem that, from what I hear, you expressed feelings for him, and when he didn't return them, you attempted to rape him."

"It was not rape...!" Jack tried to refute before simply pouting and leaning back, arms crossed and body tense once more, "He's just a fucking asshole. He wants me, and he knows it! I know it! He wanted to fuck me and he's too much of a pussy to admit it!"  _Empty words. You know they are false, and yet you persist. You are desperate for something you can never have._

"You do not truly believe that. I do not believe that," Samara replied, "The Commander I've come to know is a kind hearted person. He would not push someone away like that without reasons, and I know that the person he truly loves is someone of which he would never betray."

Jack rolled her eyes again, lips curling into a sneer, "Ah yes...the quarian princess..."  _He chose her over you. A quarian over a human._ "I don't want to talk about her. And I didn't rape him! I didn't...I didn't  _try_ to rape him either! I...you...you don't understand! You don't get it!"

"I think I do," Samara replied dryly, eyes lacking emotion, as always, "You love a man and desperately want him to love you back, but it can never be. Love is a foreign emotion to you, one you're still getting used to."

"I...yes," Jack sighed, not knowing what else to say, "Yes grandma, you basically summed up my feelings; congratu-fucking-lations. Want...want a medal?"

"You curse and joke to shield yourself from the matters at heart," Samara replied, "His rejection has crushed you, visibly, and you do not like this. You have always been independent and strong, but now Shepard has battered down your walls and you find yourself defenseless to the emotions he invokes in you. But you must learn to keep them under lock and key, for they could cause serious damage."

"Why should I fucking care!?" Jack shouted, unwilling to accept the asari's words, knowing them true, "He rejected  _me_! I even offered to  _share_ him with that quarian whore! But he still turned his back on me!"

Samara's gaze narrowed, "Watch what you say, lest the wrong ears hear. And offering to share him wasn't likely to help your case. Commander Shepard is a man who takes relationships seriously. He is not building a harem, he has found woman who he loves deeply and wishes to keep her. You're intervention is not helping matters. You must learn to let him go. It is these aspects of his personality that made you fall for him. Now you must let go..."

" _WHY!?_ " Jack shouted, "Why..why would I give him up!?"

"Because it will only cause you pain and suffering," Samara deadpanned, as if she knew the question was coming, "He will continue to reject you, and he will not let in. Miss Zorah will find out and make no mistake, she will be  _furious._  You're a powerful biotic, but I have seen the Chief Engineer in action. She is a capable marine, a Brigadier General, and her combat skills are close to the best, only matched by those of this ship. Biotic or not, she will fight you...and Shepard will have to choose. We both know who he'll pick."

Jack opened her mouth to refute the words, but her energy was gone; her will to continue arguing diminishing. All that came out was the opening and closing of her jaw, gargled sounds, before she bit back a sob and fell back, defeated.

"You're right..." Jack admitted reluctantly, "You're always fucking right..."

"It comes with years of experience child," Samara stated, as if it was obvious and didn't need to be said, "In the entire four hundred years I spent alive before joining the justicar order, I have gotten my way around the galaxy. I did time in a strip club as a dancer. I became a mercenary and I killed people. I drank and danced the nights away, and mated with every male I could find. Life was simple. But life is also cruel. I was taken advantage of, drained and I found many males I loved that didn't love me back. It is a hindrance, and not something you should dwell on. Life moves on; it is up to you whether you move with it or let it leave."

Jack met the asari's gaze, and noticed a genuine care hidden behind those steely eyes. She felt a smile plaster on her features, although grim, "Yeah yeah, I get it. Don't mope about one man and move the fuck on. Don't need a history lesson you know."

"It clearly helped," Samara joked, "But I'm glad you understand what I've told you. You may love Shepard now, but his heart belongs to another, and your heart will soon understand, and will find another."

"Or find none at all. I'm a bitch that way," Jack chuckled, weakly standing up but giving into exhaustion and collapsing back down. Samara nodded, letting a quick smile grace her lips before it disappeared, the justicar standing up and helping the convict stand up, hand wrapped around her shoulders.

"Hey, Samara..."

"Yes, child?"

"Did I ever tell you...you're like a mother I never had."

Samara raised an eyebrow, surprised, "You consider me a motherly figure?"

Jack laughed, "Yeah. Don't let it get to your head. It'll fuck with your brain cells."

Samara merely nodded, helping Jack towards the elevator, "I am not capable of such ego. It would conflict with my code."

Jack rolled her eyes and sighed, seemingly forgetting their conversation, "You and your fucking code. Guess I can't bitch; I have a code of my own."

Samara cocked her head at this as she shit the button for the engineering deck, the doors shutting closed, "And what code would that be?"

"To fuck shit up and do what I want," Jack grinned, obviously loving every moment of this.

"A code like that would conflict with mine you know," Samara replied, "Before we met and I pledged allegiance to Shepard, I might have been inclined to kill you."

Jack laughed, "Wow, you're nice, mum. You know, its not very motherly to threaten your own child."

Samara smiled grimly, looking away from the convict, and the elevator fell into silence.

_And yet I killed my own._

That was Samara's last thought as the elevator arrived and the doors opened.

**{Loading...}**

_October 29, 2185_

_1339 hours._

_Main Bridge, Hyderabad-Class Light Cruiser, CAW Montgomery, Enoch System._

_Captain Michael Gatpey, Chief Operative Aeda Pil._

The Enoch relay sat there; pulsing vibrantly, waiting patiently for its next arrivals. As it was now, only one ship currently occupied the system, and it didn't come there with peaceful intent. Soon, a fleet of 50,000 vessels would pour through that relay, but the Montgomery would only be looking for one; the QMFV Rayya.

Captain Michael Gatpey sat in his new command chair, smiling wickedly as he sat on its comfy surface, watching as numerous Cerberus crew members moved about the bridge of the newly built light cruiser. Michael had marvelled at the hard work put into the ship; a few weeks, and Cerberus had spat out the first light cruiser in what was going to be the glorious Cerberus Navy. A ship flying Cerberus banners; built with Cerberus hands, not Alliance.

The Montgomery, named after Bernard Montgomery, a famous British field marshal in World War II, was an impressive vessel. Its specs were exactly that of an Alliance Hyderabad-Class Light Cruiser, but with a few modifications to make it seem...Cerberus. A few cannons, a little added boost to the shields and an enhanced VI in the ship, making it slightly superior to Alliance designs.

So there he sat, watching the stars and the relay as he waited for the Migrant Fleet arrive; which according to the Shadow Broker's intel, would be pretty damn soon. The Illusive Man and Shadow Broker had planned the attack, and one of the Broker's inside agents on the fleet was hard at work scrambling a pass code and hacking the Rayya's network, hoping to disable its defenses and communications.

The Montgomery flew Migrant Fleet colors to conceal itself as a pilgrimage vessel, and the Broker's inside agent was conjuring up pass codes for a pilgrim still out on duty and was of the Rayya. They would say the codes, gain access and dock with the Rayya, and the liveship's communcations and defenses would be disabled, leaving the entire fleet unaware of the events transpiring on the ship.

And then, Cerberus and Shadow Broker troops alike, would board the ship via two routes, locate Shepard, Tali'Zorah, Liara T'Soni and Shala'Raan, and execute them before retreating. If anyone got nosy during their escape; well, that's why the Illusive Man sent a light cruiser.

It was risky; the firefight would most likely involve civilian deaths, but Michael didn't care. Why Kai Leng hadn't been sent to do the job was beyond him, as the assassin was more than capable of dealing with such a threat. Not only had the man been gunning to fight Shepard one on one, but he would kill the others like they were nothing. He had seen the vids of Leng's attack on Walker Station; and it had been nothing short of spectacular.  _Fast, brutal, efficient. He'd take down Shepard like he was nothing. Instead they send this...salarian, to be on_ _ **my**_ _ship._

As if reminded by the alien's presence, Michael looked up and saw, once again, the salarian operative, leader of the Shadow Broker mercs deployed on his ship, loomed over him, hands at his sides and oddly calm, the salarian's expression hidden behind a full-head helmet. Michael cringed in the amphibian's presence, hating every second that Cerberus personnel has to mingle with these...scum.

 _It was a mistake working with aliens. Cerberus is human-centrist. We don't need these mindless ingrates fighting by our side, let alone on our ships. The sooner we are done with the Shadow Broker and Shepard is dead, the better._ He had been disgusted when he heard Shepard had defected from Cerberus.  _Ungrateful, alien-loving parasite. We bring him back from the dead, and he repays us by spitting in our face. The Illusive Man is right to want him dead._

And Michael was happy that he was the one chosen for the job.

"Your inside agent should have contacted us by now," Michael commented, trying to bait the salarian into an argument, which was hard to do. These mercs were unusually well-trained for paid thugs. Their training was beyond that of Eclipse and the Blue Suns, and was even on par with the military. Apparently Aeda, that was apparently the aliens name, had been an ex-STG, which explained his cool demeanour.

Aeda shook his head his usual disappointed way, "You're impatient, captain. He will contact us. He won't betray us; the Broker has given him a deal he cannot refuse."

"And that is?" Michael asked.

"None of your concern," Aeda replied in that damnable cool accent, "All you need to know is that once he has exceeded his usefulness, he will be eliminated too. The Broker cannot allow security breaches, especially one of this man's calibre. Just get us into dock and we'll do the rest."

Michael grunted his reply as he leaned back into his seat, "Just remember who got you here,  _alien_. This is  _my_ ship, and you'll be good to remember that."  _Fuck, he's gotten a rise out of me. Got to be better than that._

"A fact I'm very much aware of," Aeda replied, "Your racist remarks are not necessary. I am simply here to do a job, as are you. We both get paid for this either way, its just a matter of bullet or credit. Which would you think is more investive in the long term? I'd rather keep the green of my body  _in_ my body."

"Unlike you, I don't do this for the money," Michael replied, sneering at the salarian, "I do this for Cerberus."

"We all do this for money," Aeda replied, "When you take a job, do you find one you want to do and get paid alot for, or do you choose the one you dislike, but still get paid alot for? I very much enjoy serving the Broker, and it is an honor being chief operative of this operation, but for every man I kill, I get another credit added to my paycheck."

"Thanks for the fucking philosophy frog boy," Michael cussed, trying to ignore Aeda, but failing.

"Frogs leap," the operative replied, unholstering a pistol from his holster and causing Michael to flinch in reflex and for two Cerberus commandos in the doorway to move for their weapons. But Aeda didn't take aim, simply examining the carnifex in his grip, "And this frog has armor. A dangerous mix, wouldn't you say?"

Another grunt was all the reply the salarian got. Aeda deemed it sufficient, but let his carnifex hand cannon dangle at his side, turning back to examining the relay. Michael was about to order someone to contact the quarian when a request came in to speak with the captain. Without even asking Aeda's consent, he grabbed the salarian's arm, pulled it towards him and keyed the recognition key, watching the quarian's face mask pop up.

"Is it done, rat?" Michael spat, "For your sake, you better hope it is."

Whether the mask or his posture, the quarian looked unfazed and simply stood there, "Who is this? I contacted Operative Aeda Pil."

Michael snarled but was interrupted as Aeda spoke over him, "I am here, but the captain in his impatience has...seized control of my omni-tool. Hold one moment."

Before he could ask what the salarian meant, Aeda twisted the omni-tool from his grip and screamed out in pain as electricity flowed through him like a tazer shot, making him dance on the chair like some kind of spastic. Aeda didn't even look at him after unleashing the overload, simply looking back to his omni-tool, "Now, has it been done?"

"That, and then some," the quarian dictated, "I completely fried the system; it would take all the engineers working in tandem to get communications working again; which would take too long for them to stop you. Alot of Kar'Danna's marines are centralized around the Normandy dock, so that'll make things easier, and it seems only Shepard and Tali are present on the Normandy along with Admiral Raan, but word has it they'll be returning soon, and Shepard won't be able to ignore an attack on the Rayya anyway. I can't give you T'Soni, but you have the rest. However, remember our deal. Tali is to be left unharmed. Untouched.  _Unmolested_."

"What the Broker deals is my deal," Aeda replied, "I will honor his pact with you and leave the quarian unhurt-"

"Can't give us  _T'Soni!?_ " Michael screamed, shooting up after recovering from the electric shock dealt on him, "You had  _one_ job and you screwed it up!"

"Not completely. If you're primitive ears listened, you might have heard," Aeda replied, still calm as ever, "He has given us three of the original four; a majority vote for a referendum. He believe this is sufficient for what the Broker needs; he did not get T'Soni, but the asari will be helpless without Shepard to help her. We will be cutting the head off the snake."

"Whatever," Michael cursed, thrusting a finger in his face, " _You_ attacked  _me_ on _my_ ship. I could have you thrown out the airlock!"

"Could, but won't," Aeda replied, "First of all, killing me will invoke Broker's wrath; he values the life of his top operatives. Second, my mercs will turn on you upon my death. Third, your commandos are incompetent morons; my mercs and myself are properly trained soldiers. I could take this ship with a flick of my fingers."

"You-"

"You have no leverage captain, so I suggest you drop these thoughts," Aeda cut him off, turning back to his omni-tool, "Find a safe area and change your IFF to the Cerberus signatures provided. We will board the ship and you will be extracted upon completion of the mission. Do not attempt to assist us in the operations. Let us do this; allow the professionals to our jobs, and this day will be in your grasp."

"Very well. I've transmitted the pass code. Good luck," the quarian replied, "Yala, out."

The omni-tool on Aeda's arm flashed and disappeared, and the salarian turned to fix his gaze on a still murderous looking Michael, who seemed to be fanning his anger slowly and retreating into his chair.

He didn't even spare the salarian a glance as he growled, "Head down to the shuttle bay and prep a shuttle. My men will open the airlock and attack, and your agents will attack via shuttle from another location, draw them out. Await my orders and we'll catch them with their tails between their legs."

"I don't follow your orders. You seem to keep forgetting that," Aeda dictated, turning to leave and motioning his two operatives to follow him out. Michael watched him go and when the door had closed, he slammed his fist into the side of his chair and spun back around, trying to mediate his anger. He had to put up with Aeda, for now.

He contacted the man in charge of the Cerberus troops storming the airlock, "Mendoza, assemble your men and meet at the airlock. Prepare for the assault; go in guns blazing and kill everything they moves that isn't a Shadow Broker merc or Cerberus. Kill  _everything_." And with that, he turned off the comms and looked off into space, eyes fixing back on the Enoch relay.

This would be the second time Cerberus attacked the Migrant Fleet.

But this time, it would be successful.

**{Loading...}**

_October 29, 2185_

_1354 hours._

_Docking Corridor, Liveship Rayya, Migrant Fleet, Enoch System._

_Decon Manager Brox'Ter vas Rayya._

Nothing special ever happened in Brox's life. Quarians were anything but special or demanding people; their lives were average by Flotilla standards, and all of them had a specific role to play, none of them particulary fascinating or engaging. So when Brox said his life was pretty dull, he wasn't joking around. It was the definition of  _insipid._

Brox was a decontaminator; depressing, huh? That pretty much sums it up. While most quarians were engineers, marines, captains, technicians, mechanics etc, he was one of the lower class of people; his job was to decontaminate every new ship that came into the fleet. He didn't get paid for it; no quarians got paid for doing jobs on the Flotilla, they just did it because it was expected of them.

And guess what? He was  _chief_ manager of Decon on the Rayya. So, in other words, it was essentially a spit-sized bit of cream that had been put ontop of the horrible, moth-eaten cake. Fantastic, was Brox's impression of it. He didn't just decontaminate things, he  _ruled_ decontamination of things. Positively joyful.

Luckily for Brox though, ships rarely docked with the Rayya until now, so he had no reason to work. Apart from the human vessel's arrival twice, he had been relatively out of a job. Of course he'd try to find work; it was the quarian way, but he just ended up getting in people's way and he never really helped anyway, so he just sat in a corner and moped. He and his wife would occassionally go and share rations together or watch the stars on the observation deck, but that was essentially it. That was his life.

And now, he was employed.  _For the third time._ A new ship had just arrived in the fleet flying Migrant Fleet colors; a light cruiser by the size and shape. It was bristling with armaments and looked to be in prestine condition. The name 'Montgomery' was plastered on the side, but nothing much else gave any notion of the vessel's title or architecture, but judging by the design, Brox would guess it was a decomissioned Alliance cruiser.

And would you believe it? A pilgrim captained that vessel, the spoiled lad. Or girl. Admiral Kar'Danna had his suspicions when the ship approached the fleet and had almost contacted Admiral Gerrel to open fire on it, but the pass code had solved that matter and they had passed through, requesting to dock with the Rayya, to which the captain cautiously accepted, sending Brox and his men to greet and decontaminate the ship and its personnel.

He couldn't wait to meet the pilgrim who found such a find. Noone had arrived at the fleet before in such style since Tali'Zorah returned on a fully-crewed alliance dreadnought, and even then, the quarian hadn't been  _captaining_ it. This pilgrim had to have been one lucky bosh'tet to have found a light cruiser of its shape, weaponry and condition. Not to mention the paint work.  _Who would have been willing to sell such a vessel in such condition? It looks new enough to have only just been commissioned._

Of course, the pilgrim could have stolen it.

Unlikely. A ship like that and only newly commissioned would still be in an Alliance naval dock, which would be deep in Alliance space, possibly in the Sol System, and noone, and definitely not a quarian, would be allowed anywhere near Alliance space. This ship had to have been sold to the quarian. But why? What did the Alliance get out of selling it to the Flotilla?

_Whoa, Brox. Way above your IQ. You just scrub walls. Leave that thinking to captains and admirals and people trained to do that._

Brox sighed inwardly, stretching his muscles as he waited for the Montgomery to fully dock. Just in record time too, as he felt the familiar thud of docking clamps locking onto a ship as it docked, latching onto it and locking it to the ship's surface. Brox stood up to his full height, the quarian being tall for someone of his trade, and motioning for his fellow decontaminators to approach the airlock. Multiple other quarians followed suit, moving towards the airlock, along with Captain Kar'Danna and a group of marines.

Brox stood in the vanguard with his fellow decons as they waited for the airlock to finish decon protocols; hissing and brushing and the sound of beams cleaning skin and destroying bacteria could be heard. Brox only stood firm, waiting patiently for it to open.  _Its just another airlock to clean. But come on! It'll be the airlock of the Migrant Fleet's first prestine warship!_ _ **Brand**_ _new! He or she will be one of the most reknowned quarian captains in the fleet! Keelah, I wish I was important enough or smart enough to have done that on my pilgrimage. Such an opportunity, I wish I-_

The decontamination sequence finished, and the airlock door shot open. Brox moved forward, to stop as his eyes widened in horror and shouting was heard behind him.

No pilgrim came to greet them. No triumphant pose of a quarian adult who had brought the Flotilla a new hope. A new ship to be proud of.

No, there was 15 troopers, all squashed inside the airlock and wearing light to medium combat armor, kinetic barriers strapped to hips and helmets sealed ontop. They all held shotguns, assault rifles and pistols of every stripe, and one of them at the back had to be a engineer, by the way he played with his omni-tool. And only two things caught his attention the most.

One was the Cerberus insignias on their armor, not to mention the gold and white colors that gave it away.  _Oh keelah...my wife...no!_

Two was the weapon muzzle pressed up against Brox's mask.

He didn't even get to gasp as the Cerberus soldier pulled the trigger, blinding the quarian in a flash of white, followed by brief, exploding pain.

And then, only darkness.

**{Loading...}**

_October 29, 2185_

_1353 hours._

_Captain's Quarters, Normandy-Class Stealth Frigate Normandy SR-2, Docked with the Rayya._

_Commander Marcus Lee Shepard, Chief Engineer Tali'Zorah vas Normandy, Admiral Shala'Raan vas Tonbay._

"She did what?"

Marcus was barely holding back a guffaw, visibly amused by Tali's constantly shifting stance on the couch. Shala sat across from him, holding a complimentary drink of turian ale and sipping through her straw, courtesies of Kasumi.  _Got to thank her later too._ Shala seemed to be smiling behind her mask as well, obviously finding the embarassment of Tali as amusing as her niece's boyfriend.

"Its nothing Marcus," Tali stated, with a voice that brokered no argument, glaring daggers at her aunt, "Just Raan being...ridiculous."

Raan chuckled, "Hardly, Tali. I know what I saw."

"Do tell Shala," Marcus mused and Tali shot him a murderous glare, but he ignored it.  _I'm going to get it after this, but...what are those words Tali said? It'll be totally worth it._ He sat up and curled his legs infront of him like a child waiting to have a story told, and eagerly sipped at his drink. Tali sighed and rolled her eyes, crossing her arms and looking away from them, defeated.

Raan nodded and turned to him, beginning the story, "Well, this was many years ago, when Tali was seventeen and was going through her military training for her pilgrimage, and round about the same time I thought she had a crush on General Reegar."

Marcus noticed Tali shuffle on the sofa and knew the words had hit home. His grin grew as Raan continued, "I was on my way down to her cabin; Rael was on duty, so he couldn't look after her, so I decided to check on her. So I went down to the sleeping quarters to check on Tali. It was currently empty, so she had all to herself. And you wouldn't  _believe_ what I found her doing."

"Please auntie," Tali pleaded one final time, "I'm begging you.  _Stop there_."

"Oh, but I'm hardly done," Raan teased, ignoring Tali's demands, "So, like I was saying, I went to move inside when I found the door locked and I was sure I could hear low humming sounds coming from inside. I wanted to have a look, but I had no idea what was going on. But as soon as I was starting to leave, the hums grew more intense, and I knew something was wrong, so I went to check. I activated my omni-tool, managed to use Rael's program to bypass Tali's, as she was a genius engineer, even then, and the door opened. Lights were on and everything. And guess what the humming sounds were..."

"Some contrapion Tali created? A walking omni-tool? A geth to control all geth? A machine to complete her plans of world domination?"

Raan cocked her head but Marcus shook his head, urging her to continue. She laughed and leaned in, whispering in his ear as he strained to listen, "They weren't hums at all. What I heard was merely muffled  _moans._ "

 _Oh god..._ He shot a look at Tali, and the quarian pretended to be blissfully ignorant of the conversation, but he could tell she was visibly embarassed. So when he turned back, and saw Raan about to finish, he grinned.

"So, just what was our  _devious and sneaky_ little quarian doing?" Marcus asked, eyes quirked upwards, inviting Raan to continue.

And she did, delivering the damaging blow, "Her moans were the production of something  _very_ naughty, and she was obviously desperate for noone to find out. She had somehow gotten her hands on a nerve-stim pro deluxe edition unit, and had programmed her omni-tool to activate it and interface with her suit systems."

"Nerve stim pro?" Marcus asked, confused, "Deluxe Edition?"

"Its a program quarians use to masturbate, captain," Raan deadpanned, and he was sure Tali was flushing right about now, "And Deluxe Edition is the expansion version for...well, exclusively for women. Originally, only the men had access to it, but the deluxe edition added a version for women as well."

"How does it work?"

"You interface it with your suit systems and you get a 'joystick' fashioned interface on your omni-tool that allows you to control the motion of the...sensations," Raan told him, "Its not just masturbation, Shepard, it literally simulates sex for a host. Every. Minute. Detail."

"I see..."  _Bingo. I've just found how to get revenge on Tali. Now if I can just find someone to hack into her omni-tool..._

"Indeed," Raan agreed, inching forward, "It allows simulations of kissing, lips and skin contact, penetration, every sexual position, and of course, standard masturbation. And Tali had it on  _full auto_."

Marcus burst out laughing, "How the hell do you do that!?  _Full_ auto?"

"She was going through everything," Raan explained, "Sex, kissing, the lot. If I hadn't closed the door, I'm sure Kar'Danna would have heard her moaning from the Rayya's bridge."

He was teary eyed, "So you essentially caught Tali masturbating?"

"More like having simulated sex," Raan told him, "But simply put, yes."

"I was...experimenting," Tali piped up, catching both their attention, her voice a weak whisper.

"And guess who's picture she was doing it off to?" Raan asked him.

"I think I know," Marcus told her, "Who?"

"Kal'Reegar, the one and only," Raan chuckled, "I was right. She had a crush on him. Even the point of  _sexual fantasies._ "

"I..." Tali had to interrupt, standing up to her full height, as if engaging in a tantrum, "I...I was a teenager! And immature! All teenagers are like at that age! I was horny and my hormones demanded I have a strong, muscular, well-toned, prime specimen of a male...keelah!" Tali clasped her hands over her vocalizer, as if trying to stem the tide of her words, "I...it was stupid! All girls do what...what I did...at that age!"

"I know that Tali; doesn't stop it from being funny," Raan replied.

"He's like a big brother to me!" Tali continued, unwilling or unable to stop, "What I thought of him then...I was a hormone-induced teenager! I was on a puberty high! I..."

"Its  _okay,_ " Raan stopped her, placing her drink on the table, "I was  _teasing_."

"I...I know," Tali stammered, but immediately snapped towards Marcus, pointing an accusing finger, "But you! You put her up to this! This is all-"

Before she could finish, he wrapped his arm around her waist and pulled her down into his lap, where he then cuddled her into his chest, strong arms holding her firmly as she resisted. But slowly, after a while, she began to resist less and eventually she just gave up, melting into his hold as her head rested on his chest, hand fiddling with his shirt.

"Bosh'tet..."

"You know you love me."

"You're a lovable bosh'tet," Tali replied, tracing lines up his chest, "You always know how to shut me up."

"You bet I do," with an evil grin, he let his hand slide down her back and let it keep growing until his hand hovered over her posterior...

She almost jumped in his arms as he squeezed her ass, causing her to squeal silently into his chest. She looked up at him and shot him a mischevious look that was followed by an awkward cough next to them, drawing both their attention back to the quarian admiral in the room.

"Yes, I'm still-"

"Commander!" Joker shouted over the comm, voice urgent. Noticing the voice's intent, Marcus shot up, letting Tali slide from his lap to land on the floor and both of them looked at each other with worry as Marcus replied.

"What is it Joker?"

"You better suit up and get out there! The Rayya's under attack!" Joker exclaimed, before some hesitation. Then his voice returned, "I can hear gunfire just outside the airlock and its getting louder! Marines confirm it as Cerberus commandos!"

Marcus shot a look at Tali who gasped in shock, while Raan practically knocked over her drink standing up, " _ **What!?**_ That's impossible! Noone could attack the Migrant Fleet! We took every precaution..."

"Tell that to the welcoming committee outside," Joker shot back, before addressing the commander again, "They infiltrated the fleet via a repainted light cruiser of Alliance design, Shepard. Its called the Montgomery. Strange thing is though, I had EDI find the ship in Alliance databases on a hunch..."

EDI's voice spoke to finish the sentence, "This ship doesn't exist, Shepard. The ship is of Hyderadad-Class design, but the Montgomery itself does not exist. And considering recent Cerberus activities..."

"Cerberus is stealing Alliance ship designs and building their own vessels," Marcus finished.  _The Illusive Man is learning. He knows his current fleet of mercenary, second-grade freighters strapped with weapons isn't going to be enough. He's building a proper fleet, and if he's sent a light cruiser to the Rayya...fuck. This is worse than I thought. First the Shadow Broker, now Cerberus. Who else wants us all dead?_

"Tali, come on," Marcus ordered, marching up towards the elevator, "Its time to kick Cerberus' ass."

"I will stay here," Raan told them, sighing, "I'm of no use to you in combat."

Marcus turned to her, shaking his head, "You are not useless, Shala. Get in contact with whoever you can. Get them to help us. Coordinate the defense, do anything. It can help us in the long run."

Raan nodded and was activating her omni-tool as Marcus and Tali passed the bridge between the cabin and the access junction before entering the elevator, punching the button for the CIC. As he did this, he looked up, addressing EDI, "EDI, scramble whoever's available and have them meet me at the elevator; have everyone else as reserve. Inform Liara of what's happening; sound general's quarters. I want everyone ready  _except_ Legion. I don't want the quarians freaking out, and we'll only call upon it if the situation desperately requires it."

"Very well Shepard," EDI replied. Marcus and Tali turned to face the door and the elevator had reached the CIC and the doors opened when EDI continued, "Commander, two shuttles have just left the Montgomery and are heading for the ship's trading deck with the intention of forcing their way inside. It is possible that more Cerberus forces lurk inside."

"Goddamn it all..." Marcus cursed as he approached the armoury with increased need, practically slamming his palm into the interface to open it as Tali moved in behind him, "Tell Zaeed..." he trailed off before shaking the thought from his head, "Tell Kaidan to take Jack, Samara, Liara and Miranda and to take a shuttle to counter the second Cerberus attack. Keep them checked."

"Jack is currently unavailable due to...strenuous combat training in the shuttle bay earlier," EDI replied. Marcus cursed, but gave a reluctant nod as he approached his armor locker.

"Marcus?" He turned around at the sound of Tali's voice as he stopped infront of his armor locker, "Is it really wise to send all biotics away to one location?"

"Not all of them Tali," Marcus replied, grabbing the first gauntlet, and letting his own biotics flash in demonstration, "We've also got Jacob and Thane, which makes three biotics in total, so its nothing to fret about. With Zaeed out, I'll be forced to take only Grunt, Garrus and Kal only, but its not like I need them anyway."

"Keep your ego in check," Tali snapped, "This is serious."

Marcus noticed the inappropriate timing of his joke and gulped, nodding as he continued fitting on his armor. The new Terminus Armor he had acquired was top of the range; it wasn't the Blood Dragon Armor he had come to love, but it was something, and maybe this time, this armor would actually last. He finished fitting on his armor, but pinned the helmet under his armpit as he turned to Tali, who helped him put on his breastplate.

An armoured hand cupped Tali's cheek and she looked up into his eyes, seeing worry and concern, "We'll get your people out of this alive, Tali. I give you my word. These Cerberus scumbags  _will_ die, I promise. Not one more innocent will be hurt. But I'm going to have to ask you to stay back with the marines and coordinate supression fire. I'm going to be in the vanguard, with Grunt and Garrus."

Tali's eyes widened behind the mask, "No I'm not! I'm coming with you! I need to be there!"

This time, both hands cupped Tali's entire face and he let his forehead lean against her visor, his eyes never leaving hers. His voice was but a soft whisper, "And I need  _you_ to be at the rearguard. I need an engineer coordinating defense and someone to lead the marines. Garrus will be with me, Jacob will be part of that group, Miranda is off with Kaidan, so that leaves you in charge. I can't risk bringing Legion and Kasumi will be stealthly extracting civilians, so that leaves you as engineer. I'm sorry Tali; but I can't think with my heart here, I need to be the Commander, just for now. I'm sorry."

Tali sighed, her hands cupping his, her voice the same low whisper, a sound that also seemed to soothe her mate's senses, "I know, and don't apologize. I know what its like to be in command, and I know you need to be focused. No fraternization in the military exists for a reason, I guess," she then, with foreheads still touching, embraced him, arms wrapping around him as her suit pressed against his armoured visage, "Just be careful, you bosh'tet. I know what you're like, and I don't think I could stand seeing you injured again. I don't care if you have to hide behind Grunt,  _stay safe._ And that's not a request,  _that's an order_. Do you hear me?"

Marcus chuckled, hugging her back, "Yes, ma'am. Whatever you say, ma'am."

They broke the hug, knowing the urgency of the situation. But before turning away, Tali turned around, snatched a grenade from a nearby bench and placed it in Marcus' grip. He looked up at her with a raised brow and she nodded.

"I told you I'd loan you a grenade to blow up Cerberus," the quarian seethed and bristled with rage, "Here's the grenade, now go blow those fuckers back to hell."

Marcus was almost taken aback by the quarian's use of human curse terms, but he only smiled.  _That's my girl; using human mannerisms._

"God, I love you," Marcus exclaimed, placing a large kiss on her visor before clicking his helmet into place and gathering his weapons; he grabbed his claymore shotgun and primed it on his back before snatching a Revenant LMG and a bandolier of grenades, wrapping them around his chest. He grabbed Tali's grenade and placed it in the pouch on his chest, giving the quarian a warm smile. He was turning to leave when Tali stopped him. He looked down at her and words were not needed.

"I love you too," Tali told him, before slapping his chest, the quarian moving towards her own locker, "Now, go kick their ass."

He nodded and moved to leave, watching the quarian grab, not her geth plasma shotgun, but, to his surprise, her old Armageddon shotgun, or rather,  _his_ Armageddon shotgun that he had used two years ago in the Saren campaign before giving it to her as a gift. It was during the time he had been developing feelings for her.

He moved through the flight deck with purpose as he reached the airlock, nodded to Joker and entered the decon chamber, watching as Jacob, Mordin, Garrus, Grunt, Kasumi, Tali, Kal and Thane arrived inside, weapons brandished. It seems there would be no need for a reserve force. He looked forward, ready to draw his Revenant. He only brought the weapon out of a need to rip Cerberus apart, and an LMG was perfect for such a situation.

The airlock finished cycling and shot open, revealing a war-torn looking corridor before them. And as Marcus marched forth, he felt sick to the stomach.

All along the corridor, rows of quarian bodies lay, pools of red blood collecting. Bodies of marines mixed with those of the innocent; quarians who had been talking and chatting and operating their daily lives before they were cut short by the sudden and unprovoked Cerberus attack. Khelish curses spat in the air as both sides exchanged fire, both trying to kill and overwhelm the other. It was a bloodbath.

_This is my fault...I did this...if I had never come to the Migrant Fleet...they're only here because of me...this...these people's blood...they're on_ _**my** _ _hands..._

Without giving his team a chance to recognize his hesitation, he charged forth, Revenant in his grip as he raised it, pulled the trigger, and felt it roar to life in his hands. The fire poured down the corridor and tore a charging commando apart, the unexpected assault causing the Cerberus troopers to flee back into cover, shouting orders at one another. He counted at least seven of them before diving into cover himself.

He landed next to another quarian marine as Garrus went prone, positioning his Reaper sniper rifle and began to sweep the corridor, sniping any commando stupid enough to come out of his or her cover. Kasumi disappeared and headed over to where civilians were hiding, and Tali began shouting orders at the marines.

"Marines! Form up, on me, double time it! Someone, get me your leader and your squad number; move it!"

"Who the hell are you?" The quarian next to him asked.

Tali shot her a glare as she moved behind the cover both she and Marcus shared, Armageddon clasped in her hands as she shot daggers at the soldier, "Brigadier General Tali'Zorah vas Normandy, that's who, marine."

The marine snapped to attention, a salute reaching her masked head, "Keelah, I apologize ma'am! I'm the squad leader; Master Sergeant Vas'Yala vas Rayya, ma'am! Ready and able ma'am!"

"I need a sit-rep," Tali ordered and Marcus just let her run things as he poked his head over cover, grabbed the grenade she had christened, and tossed it at Cerberus, watching it drop behind the enemy cover and explode in a glorious bang, ripping apart numerous commandos, wounding others and forcing others from their position like frightened rabbits.

The marine nodded her affirmation, "Its ugly, man. I've counted at least fourteen civilian fatalities, with four of my men down and two civilians with suit punctures. The entire decon team is dead, as is most of the captain's personal guard..."

"The captain was here!?" Tali demanded, grabbing the quarian's veil and pulling her closer, "Is he alive?"

"I..." the woman gulped, fearing her next words, "No, ma'am. Captain Kar'Danna was killed in the initial Cerberus assault; took us completely by surprise. By the time I could organize my men and a retreat, they had already killed the captain. There was nothing I could do, ma'am."

"Those bosh'tets..." he heard devastation in the quarian's tone; years of nostalgia gone in a heartbeat. The captain of the ship she had grown up with, the man she had grown up with, and as much as the man's welcome was extremely hostile and Marcus found himself slightly disliking the man, he had been honorable. And Cerberus had killed him. The Rayya mourned.

"Then we'll make them pay for it in turn," Tali growled, turning down the hallway, "I want that ship marine; and I will kill its captain  _myself._ "

"But ma'am!" The soldier insisted, "Those Cerberus soldiers are entrenched deeply and their firepower and numbers are greater than ours! Plus, they've deployed more troops to the trading deck, so we're completely divided! The captain is dead! We're completely outgunned!"

"Why can't you just send a distress call?" Marcus asked, "The other admirals can't ignore an attack on one of their liveships."

"Don't you think we've tried that?" The soldier snapped before correcting herself, "Sir, sending a distress call was the first thing the XO did. We can't; the communications array is fried; someone has completely dished the entire system, and we cannot afford the troops or resources to hold them while they repair them. Hell, even the defenses aren't reacting. We're completely defenseless and unable to call for help! And what's funny is that they found that the system had been sabotaged  _prior_ to the docking."

Both of them went silent and they could practically hear Tali's growl, "Are you implying...are you saying that one of our  _own people_ sold out their own people to Cerberus? That bosh'tet; if I find them I'm going to rip their suit open! I cannot believe the audacity needed...ARGH!" With a blood cry that even sent shivers up Marcus' spine, Tali shot up, Chiktika shooting forth as Tali moved, her shotgun booming, again and again, as she charged the Cerberus line.

"TALI YOU FUCKING IDIOT!" Marcus roared, charging out to get her back back behind cover before the commandos regrouped, "YOU'RE GOING TO GET YOURSELF KILLED!"

Friendly fire danced around them; Garrus and Thane's snipers firing in sync while Kal fired his assault rifle. Grunt roared as he charged forth, his claymore blowing apart Cerberus cover. Jacob and Mordin provided supression fire, peppering the commando's cover to keep them pinned. One commando braved the enemy fire, trying to take advantage of Tali's vulnerable form with her mattock heavy rifle, only to have her head torn open like a bloody melon.

He pumped his legs until he was infront of Tali, raising his omni-shield to shield both of them from further fire. He glared at Tali, who sheepishly turned away and he turned back, roaring loudly as he dropped the shield and pulsed with biotic light, launching a flare directly into the center of the enemy squad.

Bright, purple light consumed and ate through the end of the corridor, vaporizing many of the commandos while tearing others apart; bone, muscle and limb. Red blood caked the walls from the explosion, and scorch marks covered the walls. He raised his Revenant and moved forward, gunning down those still on the ground, before skidding behind the remnants of the Cerberus cover, taking the time to reload from the assault. Tali skidded down next to him, and he grabbed her arm, pulling her close to him.

"What the fuck was that!?" Marcus scolded, "Do you have a death wish!? Goddamn it Tali, you almost gave me a heart attack!"

"I am not a fucking child!" Tali shot back, shoving backwards, "I can look after myself! What makes it right for you to charge forward like a imbecile, but not for me!?"

" _ **Because I'm not the one wearing a suit!**_ " He shook her, "I am not the one with a weakened immune system! When I get shot, I shrug it off, I don't get a fever or have to live in constant fear of dying! That commando with the mattock? You're lucky I was there to save you, otherwise you might have died! That trooper's mattock would have opened your head!"

He felt Tali start sobbing, and he wrapped his arms around her, suddenly conscious of himself. He had felt bad for yelling at her, but damn it, she had scared him to death! One shot was all it would have taken...to take the woman he loved away from him...one lucky Cerberus commando...

"I-I-I'm so-sorry..." she weeped, "B-but I can't lose any-anyone else! They killed Captain Danna! They've killed a dozen innocent civilians! How many children will soon fall to them!? I was  _there_ when they stormed the Idenna! I helped fight them off! I saw a mother's body, covered in blood, holding her baby in her arms...still in its bubble...the mother was dead, and the baby t-thought...so adorably...adorably... _ignorant..._ "

He sighed, nodding, "I understand Tali, and I know I wasn't there on the Idenna, but I know the attrocities Cerberus has committed. They will pay, but if you die...Tali I don't know if I could..."

"This isn't about us!" Tali shouted in his face, "This is about my people!"

"We can discuss this later! Right now we've got some Cerberus bastards to blow to hell!" He shot forth from his cover, holstering his Revenant and unholstered his Claymore, pumping a shell into the chamber and blowing the torso clean off a charging commando, bodyless legs collapsing to the ground in a sea of crimson.

Two more tried to flank him, but Tali was past in a flash, body moving like a dancer. One foot ducked low and sweeped the legs out of one commando, allowing her to unsheathe her boot knife and slam it into the throat of the damned commando, before disgarding it, spinning, and ramming her shotgun forwards just as the second commando went to kick her in the face...

...only to have her leg from the foot to her knee completely shorn off, meaty fragments coating the ground in sloppy blood, crimson blood blinding Tali as it stuck to her visor, leaving nothing but a meaty stump on the woman's leg. The commando screamed, while Tali shot up, wiping her visor with one hand and continuing in one clean movement as she slammed a fist into the woman's chest, doubling her over. She fell to her knees, allowing Tali to grab onto her helmet and yank it back, snapping her neck.

Tali retrieved her knife, wiped it on her leg, and then sheathed, moving to follow Marcus into the Cerberus vessel. Marcus nodded to her, turning to his squad to see them, arrive Garrus and Grunt arriving. He moved to see the rest approaching, but held up a hand, "The rest of you hold position and make sure no more Cerberus troops arrive; if they do, kill every last one of them, no prisoners. These fuckers are done."

He moved into the ship as Garrus, Grunt and Tali followed him. He would let Tali kill the captain, no matter what. They would pay for this attrocity.

He tried to contact Kaidan, but he cursed as he found it jammed.

_I hope they're alright._

**{Loading...}**

_October 29, 2185_

_1403 hours._

_Trading Deck, Liveship Rayya, Migrant Fleet, Enoch System._

_Chief Operative Aeda Pil._

The Cerberus shuttle's hatch decompressed and opened, letting the vacuum of space enter it, but luckily for the Broker mercs, they wore EVA suits, so the decompression didn't kill them or suck them out. Aeda watched from behind as he signalled one of his asari mercs, the woman raising a shoulder amounted Arc Projector, courtesy of Cerberus, and aimed it at the center of the door...

An erratic jet of electricity shot forth, impacting the door and causing small tremor of light to rock through the solid blast door. The asari lowered the heavy weapon, and Aeda raised his carnifex, activating his tech armor as he did and preparing to attack, preparing to attack. His fellow mercs did the same, assuming position behind the walls of the vehicle.

The door's circuits burst and gave out, and the blast doors shuddered open, revealing the inside of the liveship. Forcefields shot to life, they only stopped decompression; not bullets. The quarians inside went about their daily lives, oblivious to the attack about to be wrought upon them. Aeda almost felt sorry for them; innocent civilians going about their lives, and about to be disposed of just to kill four people.

_But in the end, it is the Broker I am loyal to, not my morals._

He raised his pistol, targetted the nearest civilian; a man carrying a crate, and fired.

Chaos dissolved into the room as their shuttle shot forth and into the room, the target's corpse collapsing onto the ground along with his crate as he crumbled down dead, the whole room dissolving into screaming as people desperately tried to flee. His men opened fire, gunning down helpless civilians left and right. Aeda leapt out of the shuttle, leading the assault as his carnifex answered bloody murder to the screams.

Shots pinged off his tech armor and he turned to see four marines running towards them, assault rifles booming. They assumed cover and tried to flank them, but Aeda had seen similiar tactics in his days working in the STG; he knew how they worked, and where they faltered. He leapt forth, his leg ramming into the chest of one charging quarian woman, doubling her over before placing his pistol to her visor and pulling the trigger, blowing her head clean off her shoulders.

One man screamed in rage at the death of his comrade, or, due to the sobs he heard, his mate, another quarian appeared, this one a...female? Aeda was confused.  _A female who is mates with another female? Homosexuality is not limited to humans it appears. Interesting...pointless among salarians, pointless among many species. Irrelevant. A target. Target, fire, discard._

He dodged the rifle butt of the female quarian as he then spun around, straightened her arm out and shot an elbow into her shoulder, snapping it in a single second, a loud crack heard throughout the room as the female's scream increased in pitch, before he then spun her around again and did the same with her leg, her scream sounding like a banshee's cry now.

Not willing to let the quarian linger in pain, he placed his carnifex behind her head and pulled the trigger, the shot ripping open her hood and emptying her brains all over her mask as she crumbled forward and onto the ground. As he turned, all the quarians had been eliminated, so he moved up the stairs, motioning his demolitions specialist, a turian, to plant a charge on the only quarian shuttle in the room. There would be no escaping this onslaught.

Aeda moved up and stood ontop of the observation dais, watching his men secure the room. Sixteen mercenaries moved about, all carrying state of the art weaponry as they moved to entrench themselves. Five men would hold the trading deck, and the other ten would follow him and push on through the ship, using the Cerberus attack as a distraction to let them flank Shepard, Tali, Liara and Shala's position, allowing him to kill them.

His omni-tool beeped with a communique from Peta and he pressed the answer button, watching the quarian's face appear on the screen.

"Future conversation unnecessary Yala," Aeda stated bluntly, "Be quick with it, before I decide to jump ship and add a fifth man to my list of dead men."

"Thought you should know that Shepard, Tali and Shala are still on the ship, as is Liara. Cerberus forces have boarded the ship and begun opening fire. Now's a better time than ever to take control of the situation. You might even get the Normandy."

"I am interested in loyalty, not a ship I cannot use," Aeda replied cooly, "When the Broker requires the Normandy for my loyalty, then I shall take it without hesitation. Until then, I recommend you stay hiding until I can liberate you from the hole you hide in."

"Just get me Tali, alive, and I'll leave you unhindered," Peta promised before cutting the line.

"Cocky and overconfident. Loyalty obviously not a strong virtue," Aeda muttered, "Will have to eliminate when this is all done; I will do it myself. When you crush a leech, you do it yourself, you don't get someone else to do it."

Suddenly, an explosion rocked the bay, and he turned back around to see another shuttle, this one sporting red and black colors, in the same position as they had been, but this time there was a human wielding a missile launcher.  _Unexpected counterattack. Damn it. Will have to counteract, scramble response._ He shouted orders at his men and steadily made his way down, making sure to take cover behind a nearby crate.

He held his carnifex steadily as he peeked over his cover, watching another missile erupt from the human's launcher, this shot impacting their shuttle, the first shot rupturing the cockpit before the second shot ripped straight through, a ripple of explosions tearing through the vehicle and causing it to explode in flames, consuming two of his men that had been taking cover behind it, and destroying their main avenue of escape.

He watched the shuttle moved inside, and a horde of weapons fire met both sides, covering the trading deck in a roar of death. And as the salarian looked on, he saw another human in a white, revealing uniform, an asari in a red, patterned uniform and then finally, another asari, this one wearing an armoured labcoat and undeniably familiar.  _T'Soni..._

All four lit up with biotics, and orbs of light shot forth from the hostile shuttle, raining even more death upon the already grizzled Broker mercenaries. Aeda raised his carnifex and fired at the center human, but the shot pinged harmlessly off his shields and he seemed to ignore him, dropping his missile launcher to draw an avenger assault rifle.

Aeda ducked back behind cover and rolled to another, narrowly dodging the roar of fire that impacted his tech armor and pinged off harmlessly. He saw that his turian demolitions engineer had placed a charge on the shuttle and was now wielding a heavy weapon, noticably a grenade launcher, and was aiming it at the enemy shuttle.

Shots poured into the turian's shield, and rolled out of the way, making sure to keep his grenade launcher steady. Shots kept pouring into his shields, but Aeda noticed where the enemy fire was directed. He went to comm the turian, but it was too late.

One shot. Two shots. Three. All impacted the barrel of the launcher, impacting it with such heavy force that it pierced the agent's kinetic barriers and ripped into the barrel. The turian practically disappeared in a massive series of explosions, all the grenades in the launcher detonating at once, the turian vanishing in a combination of fire and a mist of blood and gore. The explosion four more mercs before they could escape as well, reducing Aeda's force to nine men in total.

He commed his entire squad, "Concentrate fire on the shuttle's engines; bring it down! Taria, Christopher, Parus, Bell, Tracey, Mae, form up, on me and prepare to flank! Reload weapons and fire! I wanted that thing down yesterday."

Without another word, Aeda slipped from his cover and rushed to the left, rushing down the front of the bay. As he did, he watched one asari, three humans, a turian and a salarian move to meet him; leaving the other three mercs to fire on the enemy's engines and draw their attention. He never intended to take the shuttle down; only draw the attention of its occupants.

He motioned to the shuttle with hand signals, not willing to risk noise. Without a sound, he raised his own carnifex hand cannon, aimed at the red armoured asari, and opened fire, joined quickly by the other six mercs. Together, they combined fire to completely bring down hell on the enemy force.

Expectantly, they retreated into the shuttle to save themselves from the enemy fire, giving his men room to breathe, regroup and reload. He crouched, slipping a thermal clip from the pouch in his light armor and slamming it into the slot on his heavy magnum, hearing the satisfying click of it connecting to the main power cell.

His men followed suit but just as they were ready to continue their attack, Christopher, who had been raising his rifle to fire again, was brought down to kneel, his entire kneecap torn right open as he screamed, only to be silenced as a second sniper rifle pierced his left eyesocket, left side of his head disappearing in a red mist.

Aeda, taken by surprise, spun around, pistol raised and cursed inwardly at his incompetence; watching as an entire squad of quarian marines rushed into the room, one of them brandishing the sniper rifle that had killed Chris.  _Damn it, I made a foolish decision forgetting about them. Getting complacent; must complete mission; but I cannot focus on both sides. Divide forces._

He motioned for Taria, Bell and Mae to follow him as he moved to deal with the quarians, while he ordered the rest to keep the shuttle occupants pinned, only to watch as their shuttle landed.  _Very good; makes killing them easier._ Without a second thought, he turned, this time raising his omni-tool and deploying his combat drone and then keying his incineration program, charging.

Taria's biotics lit up to his side, and Bell and Mae provided suppression fire, catching one reckless marine in the side and downing him, before finishing him with a shot to the belly. Aeda's omni-tool pulsed with energy and a fiery orb shot forth, impacting one unlucky quarian in the face. The quarian woman dropped her shotgun and screamed as her body wreathed, face melting in flames. To end her misery, he raised his carnifex once more, and littered the ground with her brain matter.

Two more marines fell before they assumed defensive positions and pinned his troops. Aeda took cover, deciding to deactivate his tech armor to allow himself to draw power to his omni-tool. Using what energy he had left, he prepared his cryo blast function, stood up, aimed, and fired. He caught one standing quarian in a solid casing of ice, solidifying her before he fired his pistol into it, cracking the ice and reducing the quarian to blood stained pieces of ice on the deck.

Their victory was short lived. Just as he moved to press his attack, a frag grenade landed right inbetween Mae and Bell, the two men almost yelling as they dodged to avoid the blast, but in futility. Aeda raised an arm to shield himself from the blast, hoping his tech armor activated in time as the grenade detonated.

No pain. Nothing. But he could hear crackling. He looked down to see his tech armor had activated just in time, but the explosion had fried the circuits, and part of the armour on his arm was now charred and twisted and scorched, with bits of grenade wedged in them.  _Problematic. Tech armor out of the question now._ He looked further up to see that Mae and Bell were completely gone, nothing but scorched rifle, meaty fragments and a few specks of blood left to remind him of their existence.

He turned to Taria, watching as her biotic barrier desperately tried to fight off the marine assault, but they would break through eventually. He commed the asari, "Cover my retreat! Remember your duty! You die for the Broker!"

"I'll die for the Broker!" Taria swore and she seemed to grow stronger with the words, her stance towards her barrier growing stronger; but it wouldn't last. Aeda hastily retreated, his last view of Taria being that of her pushing forward, all her biotic energy going to her barrier. Without turning back, Aeda rushed forward, making sure to never lower his pistol.

But as he arrived, he did not find what he wanted to find.

Parus and Tracey were lying on the ground in pools of blood, and the rest of his forces dead. He surveyed the scene, unwilling to believe what had transpired. He leapt under cover, watching the enemy from the red and black shuttle begin to pan out and secure the area, and he commed the Montgomery.

"What the fuck do you want, frog?" Michael snapped, "Has the frog forgotten how to leap?"

"The frog is alone against snakes," Aeda snapped back, "My team is all dead and only me and Taria remain. I require reinforcements; the Normandy managed to scramble a response faster than anticipated."

"What's this? You need help from the  _primitive?_ Well fuck me twice," Aeda was sure the human was smiling smugly at that point, "I'd love to, but I'm busy at the moment dealing with my own problems. I just had Shepard, Miss Zorah and his krogan and turian pet just board my ship and begin tearing everything up, so many commandos are currently  _very_ occupied."

Aeda frowned, "You let them get onto your ship?"

"You were the one who said my troops were incompetent! If you had switched roles and had your mercs protect the ship, we might have been better off!" the Cerberus captain yelled back, "What matters right now is leaving! I'm scrubbing the mission!"

"We cannot turn back!" Aeda snapped, finally losing his cool, "You and I both know the Illusive Man and Shadow Broker  _both_ will have our heads for desertion!"

"Who said anything about you?" Michael asked coldly, "I'm taking the ship and bugging out. You can rot for all I care, salarian piece of shit. I'll deal with the master's whip, but you won't."

"You still have to deal with Shepard and his men," Aeda pondered, "You can't escape."

"That's my problem, not yours," Michael dictated, "Goodbye, Operative Pil. Enjoy...well, whatever afterlife the frogs live in, I guess."

Then the comms went dead and the salarian deactivated his omni-tool. He inhaled and exhaled, but then his head shot up at the sound a thunder shot, finding Taria's dead corpse fall to the ground as the quarians finally broke through her barrier and took her out.  _Just me now. I'll die for the Broker._

He activated his omni-tool one last time and activated the injector in his armor to inject barbicide instead of medi-gel into him. If he got captured, he would activate it and kill himself; he would not allow himself to break and give them the location of the Broker. He could not,  _would not,_  allow it.

He reloaded his carnifex one final time and leapt from his cover, immediately opening fire on the nearest target; the male human in the armor. The man saw him coming and blocked the salarian's incoming swipe with his rifle, before dropping it and assuming a battle pose, hands up and clenched in fists. It was clear this man was military as well.  _Posture, professionalism, authority. Uh yes...Staff Commander Kaidan Alenko._

The woman in white uniform would be Miranda Lawson, the white armoured asari obviously was Liara T'Soni, and the red armoured one had to be Samara. He assumed a similiar pose, deciding that this was a battle of skill; he dropped his carnifex and kicked it away, seeing no need for it anymore. He was surrounded, with quarian marines behind him, weapons raised, and the Normandy crew before him.

_No escape, only death. But a good death._

He then reached up and removed his helmet, also dropping it to the floor, revealing his salarian features. He was totally unremarkable; the standard salarian face, with but a single bit out of place; his mouth was sloped weirdly enough that when he smiled, it looked crooked. He bowed to Kaidan, who also removed his helmet and dropped it, revealing his raven black hair and calm eyes.

He turned to Liara, "Doctor T'Soni, my mission was to kill you, along with Shepard, Miss Zorah and Admiral Raan. You make take pleasure in knowing I failed, if you wish."

Liara shook her head, eyes narrowed in anger, "I didn't know the Shadow Broker now worked for Cerberus. And that he enjoyed killing innocent civilians."

"Enjoyment and necessity are two different things," Aeda corrected, "And not working for Cerberus, working with them. Mutual cooperation and mutual goals. Both sides see Shepard as threat and the Broker just happens to want to get rid of you anyway, so it was like killing two birds with one stone."

"I will  _end him_ ," Liara brissled, eyes narrowing into slits as she glowed with biotic power.

"You will never find him," Aeda replied calmly, "Kill me if you wish, but I will never betray the Broker. He has remained hidden for hundreds of years. You cannot find him, and you will not kill him. It is that simple."

"They said Shepard couldn't destroy the Collectors. Saren said the Reapers couldn't be stopped," Liara replied simply, a grin gracing her lips, "And so far, the Collectors are gone and the Reapers still haven't arrived. Shepard will find the Broker, and he will pay for all that he has done."

"If that is your attitude, it is not up to me to try and change it," the salarian replied, assuming a battle pose, "But my time for sociability is over. Now we must fight, Staff Commander Alenko."

Kaidan didn't even wait as he sent a jab in the salarian's direction, with Aeda dodged. Another punch quickly followed it, but the merc easily blocked it. He felt a burst of biotic energy from the soldier push him back slightly, but he quickly regained his composure and swiped at the man's incoming assault, countering it at every juncture.

He was taken by surprise however when the human faked one attack with his right and attacked with his left, hitting the salarian across the jaw, and causing him to double back. He spun around to face him again, but a kick connected with his chest, sending him onto the ground. He desperately tried to find air as the human approached.

Just as Kaidan moved to attack him again, he leapt to his feet and used his momentum to return the favor, punching him across the face. Kaidan reeled from the blow but quickly recovered, his body being less frail than a salarian's, and sent an elbow flying into his face. Teeth blew apart as Aeda almost gasped from the sudden pain and fell backwards, stunned as he cradled his face, which was all the opening the alliance marine needed.

Another punch, followed by another, further disorienting the STG soldier and causing him to lose balance as he became dizzy from the blows. A kick shot out and hit the salarian's right shin, causing him to cry out and fall to one knee, but not before he sent his own punch into the human's thigh, achieving but a small thump.

He blocked a hammerfist blow from Kaidan, but another fist rained down and hit the blocking arm, before it was then straightened, and an elbow snapped it. Despite Aeda's skill, he was ultimately no match for a fully-trained alliance soldier. He yelped in agony as he tried to stand up and ignore his snapped arm, but it was hopeless. He desperately held his other arm up to protect himself, but it proved fruitless as Kaidan seemingly ignored it.

A kick; and Aeda fell forwards, useful arm shooting up to stop him from faceplanting into the ground as he spat out green blood from his ruin of a mouth, the blow to the back of his head finishing him; not killing him, but ending the fight. But Kaidan wasn't finished; and to add insult to injury, he felt a biotic hand grab one horn and  _pull._

It came off in a sheen of green gore, causing Aeda to screech as it came off and fell to the ground, Kaidan sneering at the lowered salarian.  _I deserve it. All the innocent men and women I killed. He is serving justice. Do not apologize for my actions; I did it for the Broker, but still regret what I ultimately had to do._

A pistol collapsed into Kaidan's hand and Aeda could practically feel the cold steel touching the back of his head, "Its over."

"Do what you have to do," was all Aeda had to say.

A gunshot rang out throughout the trading deck.

**{Loading...}**

_October 29, 2185_

_1427 hours._

_Main Bridge, Hyderabad-Class Light Cruiser, CAW Montgomery, Enoch System._

_Commander Marcus Lee Shepard, Chief Engineer Tali'Zorah vas Normandy, Soldier Urdnot Grunt, Gunnery Master Garrus Vakarian._

The entrance to the cruiser's bridge was littered with the dead; long lines of bloodied corpses, still in heavy, medium and light armor, all lying dead and bent, either torn down by gunfire or defeated in hand-to-hand combat. Red blood stained the pristine, gold and white colored bulkheads, a bloody testament to the combat that had occured. Spent thermal clips littered the fall, and blood flowed freely. The dead occupied the hall.

And they all belonged to one side.

Marcus and his team walked through the piles of dead Cerberus commandos that had made their stand at the door; squads of them throwing themselves at the team in a desperate attempt at overwhelming them in a battle of attrition; a battle that cannot be won against the masters of it. These bodies were all that was left of the Montgomery's security and troops; all that lay ahead now was the crew itself.

He wanted to kill the cruiser's captain for what he had done here.

But that was Tali's honor. Cerberus had attacked  _her_  people. Killed  _her_ old captain. As far as she was concerned, the terrorist captain would die at her hands.

_Its my fault. I brought them here. They wanted me, and they butchered innocents to get me._

He closed his eyes and shook the feelings from his head. But Harbinger's words were unwilling to leave, unwilling to let go of his conscious.

_You will make a choice that will destroy you. You will push those you love away in the name of false safeties. You will surrender yourself, allowing time for our arrival. You will falter, you will waver, and you will die. All of you...ascending to a higher form. Reaper form. Those which you know as Reapers are your salvation through destruction._

_The Requiem is coming._

Was this that Requiem? A mass grave for god knows how many quarians? And all of it on his head?

No, that's not what Harbinger could have meant. What Cerberus and the Shadow Broker is doing...it has nothing to do with the Reapers.

Or does it? What if the Shadow Broker is indoctrinated? What if...if...

What if the Illusive Man is indoctrinated?

The words were like shell shock, but they were dismissed quickly. He palmed the interface for the door and felt it open with a hiss, watching the bridge appear before him. Numerous crew members stopped what they were doing to look at Marcus with horrified glances, and the human captain, sitting in his chair, spun around and faced Marcus, his own eyes widening in shock.

He grunted orders and Grunt and Garrus charged forward, weapons brandished as they ordered the crew to get on the ground. They refused, charging forward as they growled with hateful intent. One man almost reached Grunt, only to be headbutted by the massive krogan, skull cracking open like a christmas cracker. Garrus' mattock rifle spat death and chewed up the Cerberus crew, and in the end, the entire bridge crew was left dead.

They all spun to face the enemy captain who, in the commotion, and tried to sneak out the bridge door, only to have Tali appear. And she was the defintion of  _the devil._

A three-fingered hand wrapped around the human's throat and Tali, in a showcase of deceptive quarian strength, picked him up and literally carried him over to his command chair where he was thrusted back into it, the quarian snarling as he pulled out her knife and held it to his throat, eyes narrowing into a murderous glare.

Garrus and Grunt shot Marcus shot concerned glances, Grunt looking more for clarification and Marcus nodded for them to lower their weapons. A second later, they did just that and they all watched as Tali pressed her boot knife against the man's throat and she leaned in. The man didn't look the least bit intimidated, if only slightly.

"You  _sack of shit_ ," Tali cursed, pressing up against the man, who by all rights should be wetting himself by now, "I can't believe... _you murdered_ innocent civilians! Do you  _have anything_ to say about yourself!"

"Yeah, I do," the man replied, a grin creasing his mouth as he gurgled and spat, his saliva hitting Tali's visor like a ripple on a pond. For a moment, the quarian froze, as if trying to comprehend what had just happened. The man looked immensely pleased with himself. But he didn't know Tali. Didn't know what the quarian was capable of when she was pissed.

This was the woman who had lost her father, and immediately, had torn a geth prime apart,  _with a knife._

This woman had defeated Saren Arterius'  _satantic form_ and helped face down a Reaper; a man who, by all rights, and made an attempt on her life.

This woman had climbed through the gates of hell itself, diving into the Collector Base and coming out  _alive_.

And this man had just blatantly ordered the murder of a dozen civilian, including the possible next dozen by the team they sent to the trading deck. And when it came to her people, Tali was  _ruthless_ in her defense of them.

And this man spat on that,  _literally_.

The smile was wiped away from the man's face instantly as he felt a scream erupt from his throat, Tali's knife now wedged between one of his shoulder blades. His eyes met Tali's, and if her mask was off, he probably would have passed out from horror.

They were the gates of hell.

She grabbed the blade and twisted, simultaneously wiping the spit from her visor and wiping it on the man's face, "You will  _regret_ that, you bosh'tet. I'm very unforgiving when it comes to  _Cerberus_."

"Yet you were so willing to work with us," the man spat through clenched teeth, almost sighing as Tali finally removed the knife, blood gutting from the wound, only to wince when she nicked a nice long scratch along the side of his cheek.

She grabbed his hair and pulled his head back, leaning close and looking deep into his eyes, "I worked with  _Marcus Shepard_ , a man who saved my life, loved me and let me join a crusade to save the galaxy. A man who I have  _devoted my loyalty to._  He is  _not_ Cerberus, but you  _are_ , which means I'm going to kill you."

"This the bit where you tell me I'm going to die slowly and painfully?" the man asked, grinning somehow as Tali let go.

Tali giggled, almost sadistically, making Marcus cringed, "Of course not; that would make me Cerberus, correct? No, you'll die quickly, but that doesn't mean I can't have fun with the man who  _murdered innocents_."

"Kill a dozen people and you freak out. Fuck," the man snapped, leaning closer to the quarian who was now wiping her blood stained knife on her arm, "Ever heard of this famous human quote? 'One death is a tragedy, one million is a statistic.' A dozen people doesn't matter in the grand scope of thing; had it been up to me, I would have blown up this entire liveship."

Marcus expected Tali to lose it right there and then, but she kept her calm, simply eying the man. And then she spoke; her words cold, measured and  _ruthless._ They reminded him of what he had been like on Torfan, when speaking to Balak.  _Dear god...what have I turned her into?_

Tali moved forward, spreading his legs, "You know, you're pretty  _cocky_ ," Tali purred dangerously, leaning right up to him, "I might be able to fix that."

"Seriously woman? Are you going to blow me? Right infront of your boy here?" He jabbed a finger at the man and laughed, "Well, I'm not going to say no to a-"

A scream of agony. Contortions of pain. The man was going through all seven of the realms of hell, slowly and agonizingly, and Marcus, the man who flinched from nothing, turned away in disgust. Even noticed Garrus turning away and even Grunt seemed to be surprised; most unlikely out of being shocked that Tali could do such a thing, rather than the act itself.  _My...god...I don't...I...did I turn her into this? If she had never met me, would she have become this...beast?_

When he turned back around, he saw that Tali was done, wiping her knife on her veil; and he saw it, swinging on her blade; a flap of skin that Tali carelessly picked up and tossed to the ground before sheathing her knife. He looked at the wound she had opened up; the man was shaking uncontrollably and seemed to have passed out from the torture, and he wasn't surprised.

Tali's pun wasn't just that; she had  _delivered_. She had literally opened his pants and rammed her blade into his testicles, effectively castrating him and  _worse._ The area inbetween his thighs was a bloody mess as the remnants of his testicles and penis lay haphazardly like the wreckage of a destroyed vehicle; none of it was even recognizable anymore, and the skin was drenched in crimson, making it impossible to see anything.

Tali leaned in close and sighed, "This is for the Rayya. This is for Captain Kar'Danna vas Rayya. This is for all those people you slaughtered. And this...this is because  _I feel like it_." And with that, she lined her knife up and slit the unconscious man's throat, watching as blood exploded from his ruptured jugular veins and erupted onto the floor. Marcus could only watch, face emotionless.

He turned to Garrus and Grunt, ordering them to leave. They did so without hesitation, and he was quickly left alone with Tali, who seemingly returned to normal, the ruthless maniac he had seen before evaporated.

"Marcus..." she whispered.

"No," he held a hand up, keeping her at bay, "We'll talk about this later. Report to the Rayya and see what you can do to help the wounded. I'm going to try and contact Kaidan and the second team and see what happened."

Tali seemed about to object but he already turned to leave, leaving her behind him, unwilling to even look at her.

_Because why would I?_

Because she's not Tali'Zorah.

She was what he engineered her to be.

**"I...I scared you."**

**\- Tali'Shepard pav Rannoch.**

**"You terrified me. I didn't know what to do with myself; but I guess it worked out alright in the end, huh?"**

**\- Marcus Shepard.**

_**A/N:** _

_**I am extremely proud of this chapter; I hope you see why. I've put all my 'guns' into making this, and it turned out FANTASTICALLY.** _

_**None of you seemed to have guessed what the Revengeance is or the name of her captain, so I guess I won't spoil it. But trust me, you'll be bashing heads when you find out who it is. You'll be cursing yourselves for not seeing the obvious.** _

_**This is also the longest chapter I've ever written since the Trials of Treason chapter from Prophecy. And funnily enough, both involved quarians. Guess I love that species too much, although this chapter was definitely alot darker.** _

_**What do you think of Tali's sporadic ruthlessness? Was it called-for? Do you think Michael deserved to have his balls mutilated?** _

_**What will Peta do now that his mission has failed?** _

_**Will Tali and Shepard's relationship fall apart?** _

_**How much more can the crew take of the Shadow Broker's attempts to assassinate them before they finally crack?** _

_**Keelah Se'lai!** _


	16. I've Had Enough of Assassins

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The crew deal with the aftermath of the assault on the Rayya. Wrex decides to help his friends on the Normandy. The Broker tries to turn the crew against each other.

**REQUIEM**

**CHAPTER FIFTEEN:**

**I'VE HAD ENOUGH OF ASSASSINS**

_October 29, 2185_

_1652 hours._

_VICINITY UNKNOWN. DATA INCOMPLETE. LOCATION UNKNOWN._

_The Shadow Broker._

He cursed inwardly at the reports that blooded into his terminal. Another operation gone wry, and to think he had sent of his best operatives to lead the operation. Aeda Pil had never let him down before, and he had been an ex-STG agent, which was an added bonus. But now the man was dead, along with the entire squad of soldiers he had sent under his command. Even the Illusive Man's commandos were dead, with the Montgomery captured and claimed by the quarians.

It would seem that killing Commander Shepard with sheer force was going to be simply impossible; and in all honesty, he should have seen it coming. The man was an artist on the battlefield, practically god himself, with a immortality rate surpassing that of his fellow spectres, marines and N7 operatives. He had fought thousands of geth, defeated numerous krogan warriors, brought down the infamous Saren Arterius, and recently wiped out the Collectors; a race even the Shadow Broker had once learnt to keep a great distance from.

And he had sent a squad alongside incompetent, mercenary-grade trained Cerberus commandos, expecting a victory that involved Shepard, Tali'Zorah, Liara T'Soni and Shala'Raan dead. How foolish he had been.

It was clear now that he would need to be more subtle; brute force was completely off the board now. Shepard and his team were simply too skilled. Which would mean he would go back to square one; assassins and, as a last resort, planting a seed of doubt. And this time he wouldn't send rogue spectre agents or squads of soldiers to take them down; he would send snipers or elite hitmen. Shepard was still on the Rayya, so it was possible he could still use Peta as an asset; he was perceived as a non-threat by Shepard, making him perfect. He would send the necessary commands.

Before he could however, his terminal beeped loudly and he turned to see a pending call coming from the  _real_ Shadow Broker; the quarian. He sighed heavily and groaned, hoping his emotionless face relayed nothing to the quarian for her to evaluate. He hit the connection button, and the quarian's mask appeared on screen, her glare somehow transferable through its opaque surface.

"Second Broker," the quarian addressed, voice laced with barely contained anger, "Why do I see reports from my agents making light of a failed attack on the  _Migrant Fleet_ by not only Cerberus, but  _Shadow Broker operatives working side by side with terrorist scumbags in an assault on a quarian liveship, ending in the massacre of dozens of innocent civilians._ **I DID NOT GIVE THE GREEN LIGHT FOR THESE ORDERS!** _ **DID YOU!?"**_

The man almost flinched at the quarian's snarling;  _almost._  But he wasn't about to be intimidated by a quarian far smaller than him; a quarian who he could easily crush with his foot, "I admit, I did give those orders; even sent Agent Pil to carry it out. It had to be done; I saw an opportunity to eliminate our enemy in one stroke and took it."

He could practically hear the quarian fuming as she slammed a datapad she had been holding onto her desk with a loud  _bang_ , " _I_ make the orders, and  _you_ release them! If you have any suggestions on how to deal with this, you contact  _me_. You are nothing but a  _relay_  for  _my_ commands. If not for me, I'd have let you whether that storm outside."

The Second Broker growled, but apparently the quarian broker wasn't willing to stop at that, "I have so many reasons to be angry over this, but how about we start at the top, shall we? Now, care to explain to me why my agents, under your orders, were working alongside  _Cerberus_ commandos? I didn't realize my soldiers served alongside  _terrorists_."

He cleared his throat, "An alliance of conveinence, Shadow Broker. Cerberus is merely working with us to eliminate a mutual threat; Commander Shepard. Our networks, combined, have made our efforts in tracking down the man piecemeal. I can't speak for the skill of his soldiers though, but he at least gets the job done and has a fleet that we are lacking. Besides, this alliance also allows us to gain insider intel on Cerberus operations that we can use in the future. Once Marcus Shepard and his associates are dead, Liara T'Soni most notably, I was planning on cutting all ties with Cerberus."

"Hmm...can't fault you on that I guess. You may have some semblance of competence yet," the quarian mused, rubbing the bottom of her helmet before suddenly snapping back to reality, returning to her piercing glare, "But that's only one thing. What disgusts me further is that, instead of just killing Shepard, you order a  _massacre._ How many innocent people died because you ordered my men to be incompetent imbeciles? You  _murdered innocents_!"

"Is that what bothers you? Or is it because they're quarian?" The second broker found himself throwing back, almost regretting the words as soon as he uttered them.

"That is inconsequential! Plus, you are avoiding the topic!" The quarian counterattacked, "I cannot believe you ordered my men to slaughter innocents. Was I blind enough to let you order my troops around? I should have to make changes if this keeps up! Not only that, but you attack a  _liveship_ of all things! And I believe you ordered the  _deaths_ of Marcus Shepard, Tali'Zorah and Shala'Raan! I cannot believe you would do that! Do you not understand the difference between 'alive' and 'dead'?"

"Are you serious!?" The second broker burst, standing up in shock, "You actually want them  _alive!?_ "

"Yes! They are...important!" The quarian insisted, faltering slightly in her wording, "Liara T'Soni is not part of that equation; eliminate her however you wish; she is, afterall, a threat. But the other three were to be left unharmed! Shala'Raan is of no threat to us! As for Shepard and Tali...they...they are simply too important! Who will stop the Reapers if not them!?"

"Now you're grasping at straws!" He slammed his own fists down on his desk, cracking it, "On her own, T'Soni is no threat! But with Shepard helping her, we won't be able to hold her back! You saw the reports; our team didn't stand a chance! All three of them must be neatralized before we can-"

"Absolutely not!" The quarian interrupted loudly, leaning forward, "You hear me? Absolutely. Not. If they must be removed from the equation, then tranquilize them and bring them here!"

"What the fuck are you on?" the second Broker responded, "Bringing them  _here?_  You'll jeopardize the entire operation!"  _Yet again, I would crush Shepard like an insect. But this man has been known to defeat enemies far beyond our imagination; to bring him here...he'll kill both of us! And how will the Shadow Broker help the galaxy then? How does a corpse manage an information agency of this size?_ "They  _must_ die. There is no other conclusion!"

"I will hear no more of it," the quarian snapped, sitting back down in her seat and picking up the datapad she had so vehemently slammed on the table, "You will recall all the forces you devoted to this operation and bring them back here. You will cut all ties you have with Cerberus and I will deal with the backfire from the quarian admiralty. You've found a mess of this and now you'll help clean it up. Like coddling children..." And with that, the connection cut.

The second broker found himself growling and the chair  _groaned_ under the weight placed on it, and he found himself staring pointlessly at his terminal screen.  _She's a fool; she would have us both killed just to see that both Shepard and Tali'Zorah live. What is her obsession with them? Why is she so eager to protect them, but kill Liara T'Soni? They're a threat! No matter; I can find other ways to take care of them without devoting the manpower of our own troops. They're a bound to be good hitmen looking for a kill._

He opened his terminal, and began sifting through the list of top hitmen in the galaxy of every species, but none of them were anywhere near good enough to take out someone like Shepard.  _Only person is Thane Krios, and he is a devotee to Shepard, so that's off the book._ He rubbed his chin with his massive clawed hand, trying to think of who would be skilled enough to kill him.  _Only person I can think of is me; but I cannot leave this base. So who? The Illusive Man's commandos are incompetent, so letting those terrorists deal with the problem is also off the books._

Then it hit him. Yes, it was perfect. A sadistic grin hit his face. Yes, he would formulate a false message, sent to Liara from a blocked source, claim it was Sekat (who he had yet to deal with), and then tell her to meet on Illium. Shepard would inevitably escort her, and Tali went wherever he did. He would then claim that it was an issue of an explosion at a refinery; that would draw the attention of a certain justicar.

It was perfect. Yes, there was only  _one_ person he knew of that could possibly kill Shepard.

And it was someone he would never see coming.

While he formulated the forced message, he simultaneously began to hack into Tali'Zorah's omni-tool and began faking messages.

The perfect assassination indeed...

**{Loading...}**

_October 29, 2185_

_1652 hours._

_Medical Bay, Normandy-Class Stealth Frigate Normandy SR-2, Docked with the Rayya._

_Commander Marcus Lee Shepard, Chief Medical Officer Karin Chakwas, Mercenary Veteran Zaeed Massani (Medically Induced Coma)._

It had been many hours since the joint Cerberus-Shadow Broker assault on the quarian liveship, the QMFV Rayya. Many of the crew, especially the quarian members of it, were still trying to get over the sudden attack, with the civilian casualties being over twenty; not alot by wartime standards, but to the quarians, that was alot. Luckily; the casualties did not exceed that of the Idenna, and no children were killed either.

The attack came as a shock to some; the Admiralty Board was devastated, having been thoroughly convinced that an attack of such scale couldn't happen again after it did a year ago. But it had; Cerberus had slipped one of their cruisers through, docked with a liveship, and attacked it. The assault was repelled, but even the quarians were finding themselves questioning just how safe they really were.

The Montgomery, the Cerberus Light Cruiser responsible for the assault, had been claimed by the quarians, and once the remains of the crew were cleaned up, the ship would be repainted and crewed, becoming one of the most advanced ships, and a warship at that, in the Migrant Fleet. It would join Gerrel's Heavy Fleet, and would be renamed the Liapoqa. Overall, the enemy attack wasn't a complete defeat.

But many were now dead, and it had been no thanks to him. Cerberus and the Shadow Broker were clearly working together to kill  _him_ and his crew, and by being on the liveship, they had brought death upon unsuspecting innocents. That, and the ship's captain, Kar'Danna vas Rayya, had died in the attack, to Tali's melancholy.

He had been massively disturbed by Tali's actions and how she had killed the Cerberus captain; now identified as Michael Gatley. It had scared him; that his image of a sweet, innocent, adorable little quarian engineer with the ability to lead had turned into a vicious creature of violence and bloodshed in a matter of seconds. They had talked about it, and while they had reconciled, Marcus still felt shivers course up his spine from remembering the incident.

He was now back on the Normandy after returning from a funeral service for Captain Danna and the rest of the civilians and crewmen butchered, all of them put in pods and shot out into space in a traditional quarian funeral ceremony. The corpses of the dead Cerberus commandos and Shadow Broker soldiers, however, had simply been tossed into space, the quarians practically spitting on their invader's bodies. From then on, he vowed to make Cerberus, and the Shadow Broker especially, pay.

He moved forward, his legs guiding him towards the medical bay, sighing as he moved inside, watching as the sterile walls of the room appeared to greet him. Legion was still locked away in the AI Core, and EDI was so far trying to remain a secret, instead posing as a VI. The room was now largely unoccupied, with only one figure occupying the back of the room; bed alone.

There, lying on his back and sleeping away, was Zaeed Massani, the most feared bounty hunter in the galaxy; currently in a medically-induced coma after being ambushed by Shadow Broker mercenaries and mortally wounded. He turned to see Chakwas sitting behind her desk, and at hearing the door open, the old woman turned to face him, a smile appearing.

Doctor Karin Chakwas was a unique kind of doctor; one who enjoyed her work, but only if it was on soldiers, and only if she was treating them on a ship; evident by her displeasure at having to be reassigned to a medical facility on Mars after the SR-1's destruction, before joining Cerberus. She had become a part of the Normandy family, and in turn, cared deeply for all of them, acting as a motherly figure. She had looked after Kaidan with his biotic implants, Joker with his Vrolik's syndrome and Garrus with his facial scarring.

She was old, and that was evident, but even for her age, she was still fit and able to commence her duty, making her invaluable to the Normandy crew, but in the end, it wasn't just her skills that mattered; it was her motherly companionship. She was always there for you, even for when others weren't. And right now, she was doing all she could for Zaeed Massani; a mercenary she barely knew.

"Marcus," Chakwas greeted, sighing as she leaned back slightly in her chair, "What brings you here? Coming to check up on Zaeed here?" She jabbed a thumb at the unconscious merc, and she did so overly exaggerated irritation; something he found himself chuckling at.

"Causing you trouble doc?" He asked, trying not to sound too amused.

Chakwas rolled her eyes, "Don't ask me how he did it, but after I patched him up and put in a medically-induced coma, he somehow woke up six hours later asking if he could get back to work; I told him no, but he insisted. In the end, I had to put him back into a coma, and he's been sleeping like a baby ever since. Most of his wounds have healed up, but he's going to have pretty nasty scars. He took a real beating."

He nodded, moving past the doctor and moving to stand before Zaeed's bed. And damn, he wasn't a pretty sight. Of course, he looked better from when he was initially brought into the med bay, but he still wasn't pretty, not by any stretch of the imagination; come to think of it, he never really was, so that point was moot.

The bullet hole in his forehead had healed up and was now just a faint scar, and the one to the back of his head was now covered by quickly growing hair, so noone would notice that scar. But all over his body, he was covered in ugly bullet holes, and his body was  _laced_ with them. He thought the mercenary was ugly before, but now he was the definition of anti-casanova. No woman would even  _want_ to touch a man who looked like he had taken a dip in a firefight.

Chakwas appeared to his side, "To my complete surprise, he'll make a full recovery. The bullet to his forehead never got passed the cranium; somehow, it flattened on impact, and the injury to the skull was surpisingly minor. The one in his mouth was harder to stitch up, but I got it down, and he's definitely not going to be dying from that. He'll live; won't be able to fight for a couple of days afterwards, but he'll be fine."

"A few days of inactivity? Why? He won't like that," Marcus told her.

"Too bad for him. Its for his own good," Chakwas replied, pulling down a piece of ripped cloth that had been the bounty hunter's leggings, "Bullet tore right through his leg, just missed a major artery, the lucky bastard. It'll hurt for sometime afterward, and using it is out of the question; the best he can do is limp. But he'll live; I think that's good enough."

"And I thought I could pull off the impossible," Marcus chuckled.

Chakwas shook her head, bracing herself against the edge of the bed, "Don't feel underwhelmed yet, Shepard. The man didn't die and return from the dead, I believe."

"You have forever upheld the honor of my ego," Marcus replied, grinning from ear to ear as he bowed ridiculously, earning him a slap on the shoulder from Chakwas before he pulled back up, "You did a awesome job, Karin. Few doctors could pull off healing a man like that."

Chakwas puffed, "Few doctors are Doctor Karin Chakwas of the Normandy SR-2."

He laughed as he left the med bay, heading for the galley as he looked for something to eat. His thoughts ran back over the attack on the Rayya.  _All of that; and they thought they'd kill me? I thought the Illusive Man was smarter than that; not to mention the Shadow Broker, Lord of all things Information. They must_ _ **really**_ _want me dead. But I'll find them first. I won't let this charade go on for one second longer than it has to._

He stopped infront of Gardner, who seemed preoccupied with something, but quickly turned his head up to look at Marcus, smiling, "Ah, commander! What can I get you? Interested in some seasoned chicken? Recently got a fresh stock of it before we left for the Rayya; full of deliciousness!"

"Don't mind if I do," Marcus replied, picking up a plate and placing it ontop of the counter while Gardner got to work placing food on the plate and filling him a drink. While this happened, the spectre took time to look around the Mess Hall; wondering at all the faces.  _Everyone looks shocked, fearful...but most of all, I see_ _ **anger**_ _. Most of these people used to be Cerberus diehards, and now they've just witnessed what their employer is fully capable of. They'll do anything to help stop him. Good. Cause we_ _ **will**_ _._

"Here you go commander," Gardner said, sliding his plate forward until it was in the N7's grasp and he had picked up his drink. He gave an appreciative nod in the cook's direction, he nodded back and returned to looking at...whatever the hell it was he had been looking at, and Marcus headed over to the main Mess Hall table, positioning himself across from Mordin and Lia, who seemed immersed in their conversation, and Gabby and Ken, who seemed to be arguing about something.

"You're daft woman!" Ken exclaimed, throwing his hands up in the air exasperately, "I did not break no laws on the ship by doing that! You're crazy!"

That earned him a jab in the ribs from Gabby, "And you're an insufferable git. Do you realize how expensive it is to have those replaced? A damn fortune! And how much did you break it? Well...its useless now! And if engineering ever suffers a venting problem and we call die from heat exhaustion...I'm telling Death that it was your fault!"

"Noone will find out! Besides, its not like the Normandy is doing alot of fighting anyway, woman!" Ken retorted, taking a bite out of what looked to be scottish haggis, and crunching it in his mouth before turning back to his engineering partner-in-crime. He saw that Gabby wasn't backing down, and still had a look of pure murder on her face. He sighed heavily through his nostrils, "Come on, don't be so harsh!"

"Don't be so harsh?  _Don't be so harsh!?_ " Gabby practically shouted, grabbing the collar of his shirt and pulling him close enough that their faces were inches apart, "Do you have any idea what the boss will do to us if she finds out about the heating conductors?"

"Who, Shepard?" Ken chuckled, "Come on, he barely understands engineering! We'll just shout a bunch of technobabble in his face and we'll be cleared!"

"No, not Shepard!" Gabby hissed, "The  _boss_!"

"You mean...you mean the quarian lass? Tali? The-quarian-with-a-sweet-ass-and-hips Tali?" Ken grumbled, "I'm sure Shepard will talk her out of it."

"She'll  _tear us a new one_ ," Gabby growled, "I  _am not_ getting blamed for this, so you better get those damn things fixed, or you'll find yourself scrubbing the plasma venting compartments for  _weeks_. And that's when she's feeling  _generous_. And she won't be. Why? Because Cerberus just invaded her home; which means she is now most definitely  _pissed._ And the last thing she needs, when pissed, is to find-"

"Okay, damn it, I get it!" Ken snapped back, a grin creasing his features, looking almost evil, "But if I'm lucky, I might be able to get a nice view of that fine ass of hers while she's not loo-" It was then that Ken noticed his commander watching and he almost froze, a slow hand rising into the air and waving in an almost comical 'hi' fashion.

"Better get to it, Donnelly," Marcus remarked, a grin hidden under his cap, "Might be that Tali is feeling very  _ungenerous._ And boy, what would she say if I told her that one of her subordinates has been oggling her? I can just imagine her increasing the punishment...that's of course,  _if_ I tell her. But I might be generous myself and remain  _silent_. How about it, Ken? You get to work and stop oggling my girlfriend, and you do what you're told?"

"Y-yes co-comander," Ken stuttered, snapping his look back to his food, leaving a scared expression on his face. Gabby only guffawed, slapping his back and sending a wink in Marcus' direction. He only smiled back. He turned back around and stabbed his meat with his fork, look dropping on Mordin and Lia as they conversed.

"Do you really still believe that, doctor?" Lia inquired, the quarian seeming angry with something. And as the salarian responded, Marcus could tell Mordin was just as angry, if not  _more_  angry.

His look snapped towards his assistant, "Of course! Simulations always lead to war scenarios! Can't avoid it! War, death, destruction! Krogan naturally violent! Cannot meddle with facts! Had to sterilize them, keep them secured, ensure they harm noone else!"

"But its genocide! You're talking about exterminating an  _entire_ species!" Lia shouted back, unwilling to give into the professor's logic.

Mordin slammed his palm on the table, pushing his plate away, their argument now echoing across the room and gaining the attention of all the crew members in the vicinity, "Not genocide! Sterility plague! Lowers birth rates substantially and imposes zero population growth policy! Not genocide!"

Marcus decided to step in at that moment, "It  _leads_ to genocide, Mordin!"

Lia and Mordin's attention snapped towards the spectre, both of them looking angry, but for different reasons. Lia seemed to melt under Marcus' gaze but Mordin wasn't giving in, "Impossible. Genocide avoided!"

"Genocide is the only resolution of the genophage!" Marcus dictated, "You've subjected the krogan to a slow and painful death as a species! How many krogan mothers have to extract dead children from their wombs almost everyday!? How many piles of the children who never lived pile up on Tuchanka every _day_!? And the more children who never lived, the closer the krogan get to extinction! Disgracing the krogan was bad enough; but subjecting them to a slow death; tell me Mordin, where is the morality in that!?"

Mordin wasn't going to give up that easily, "Morality never mattered; only what was logical! Couldn't let krogan continue as they did; they would have bred, out of control! Think of consequences;  _saved_ krogan species from self-destruction! Krogan defeated on Tuchanka, genophage deployed afterwards. But what if genophage never deployed? Krogan would have bred out of control; no limits, no containment. Overpopulate planet; only outcome is war. War, war, and more war! Would have wiped themselves out! Genophage put their breeding under control; stabilized population!"

"It might have been like that thousands of years ago!" Marcus shouted, frowning heavily as he nodded to Lia, turning back to Mordin, "But now its  _killing_ them! If you've wounded a varren and its slowly bleeding to death; do you put it out of its misery, or do you let it suffer? Your people chose the latter Mordin! Your people will be responsible for  _murdering_  the krogan people!"

"So be it!" Mordin practically snarled, "Krogan violent thugs and brutes! Murderers, outcasts, warmongers! Galactic peace at serious risk if genophage not deployed. Second Krogan Rebellions. Krogan dropped asteroids on planets in rebellions. Krogan developed super biotics! Krogan developed weapons to blow up  _planets_! That kind of might would have overrun galaxy! Genophage was the only option! Wouldn't listen to reason; do not understand peace! Had to stop them; were desperate, genophage only solution!"

"They're only violent thugs because that's what the genophage  _reduced them to_ ," Marcus countered, fixing the salarian with a glare and giving the doctor pause, "Hope is needed for every species Mordin; hope for a  _future_. Even the krogan. But what have the krogan got to look forward to in their future? Piles of dead children? A life spent in nuclear ruins and wastelands? A life where they must tear each other apart just to stay alive? What kind of future is that Mordin? You've taken away the one thing ever species needs;  _hope_. And without hope, people go mad! The krogan sell themselves as mercenaries and kill because they have nothing left to  _do_."

"No choice," Mordin mumbled, speaking his next line louder, "Only option. Had to do it. Turians deployed it. Had to think of galactic peace...had to save galaxy...from the krogan. Just as you must defeat the Reapers."

"That comparison is unfair and you know it," Marcus growled, "The krogan aren't sentient machines that wipe out all life every fifty thousand years. The krogan have emotions. The krogan aren't pure  _evil_. When the krogan kill, they do it for a reason. The Reapers don't; they wipe out all organic life because they think us  _below them._  And for all the things they did, I wouldn't wish the  _genophage_ upon them. I fought with a krogan Mordin; not Grunt, but a close friend of mine, a man I call brother. You met him on Virmire; his name is Urdnot Wrex. He cared for his people; you saw me talk him down."

"Met him again on Tuchanka as well," Mordin replied, sniffing, "Do not see point of this."

"The point is that the krogan aren't all violent thugs and brutes," he replied, "Wrex is a friend of mine, and he's always had my back, even if he couldn't do it now. You saw what he was doing on the krogan homeworld; you saw him uniting the clans to fight the Reapers, and you saw that he wasn't doing it just for the purpose of war; but of  _peace._  He wants to give the krogan hope again; something the salarians and the turians took away from them."

"Commendable goal," Mordin declared, inhaling, "But Urdnot Wrex not majority of krogan."

Marcus scoffed, "And so you must condemn an entire species to a slow genocide based on what a few  _might do_. The krogan deserve a cure; they've suffered enough already. Haven't they? Don't they deserve a real chance at life? Didn't you say yourself that you kept Maelon's data on the promise that it might be used 'someday?'"

Mordin sighed, looking blankly at his plate in defeat. Lia watched him, as if demanding an answer. It took a few minutes, but after a while, the salarian finally pushed it away and stood up, eyes meeting Marcus', gaze sad, "Will think on what you said, Shepard. I do not believe what Salarian Union did with the krogan was wrong; but...maybe right. Genophage gone on too long. Will...think on what you've said."

Mordin then spun around and left, disappearing as he entered the elevator and the doors shut behind him. Marcus turned back around and matched Lia's gaze, who had apparently chased after the salarian, leaving him alone to his thoughts. He sighed, turning back to his chicken and laying his fork on the table.

"And suddenly I'm not hungry anymore."

"Shepard?"

He turned around to see Liara standing nearby, still wearing the armoured labcoat she insisted on wearing everywhere. Ever since joining the crew of the Normandy to be safe from the Shadow Broker, Liara had not demanded much; a simple sleeping pod had been all she had wanted and after that she had made herself scarce, occassionally joining Samara in the Starboard Observation Deck and working while the justicar meditated. This was the first time he had spoken to the asari since escaping Illium.

_We had done it to keep ourselves safe; how foolish we were to think that we'd be safe on the Migrant Fleet. There is nowhere you can hide from these assholes._

The Liara T'Soni he had known two years ago was all but dying, with only her shy personality surviving, and even that was being hidden under a machine like persona that was quickly consuming her. He remembered her when he rescued her from Therum; young, shy, scared and only a meagre archaelogist without any combat experience. It was obvious that his death, and the quest to save his body from the Collectors, had significantly changed her.

Now she was an information broker; almost on par in skill with that of the Shadow Broker that she was trying to bring down. This Liara was paranoid, ruthless, incorruptible, powerful and determined. It was scary; her uniform had turned from a torn civilian cloth to a fully armoured white labcoat. He didn't know whether to dislike the person Liara had become and mourn the person she had been, or admire what she had become, and miss the person she once was.

He nodded for her to sit down, and she did just, the man watching as she sat down. He had been angry at her for getting them involved in this mess, especially what it had almost ended in Tali's death at one point, but he could understand the intentions. Liara was on a mission to rescue a lover she thought long dead, and destroy the biggest necessary evil in the galaxy. But it didn't mean he liked it.

Despite her change in personality, Liara was largely the same in appearence as she had been two years ago. Her skin was smooth and light blue, and her features looked alot like that of a young child. She was beautiful, to put it lightly, and although he found Tali the most beautiful woman this side of the universe, there was no denying how young and pretty Liara was. Her eyes even...they looked so full of innocence.

She turned to face him, a look of exasperation on her face, "Shepard, I need to speak with you. Its important."

He hoped it had something to do with finding the Shadow Broker's headquarters. The sooner they took down that piece of shit, the sooner he could focus his attention back on preparing the galaxy for the Reapers and dealing with Cerberus. He was sick and tired of having to look behind his back constantly to see if there was some mercenary read to empty a bullet into the back of his head.

His reply was curt and to the point, "What is it?"

His hopes were answered, "Its about the Shadow Broker; one of my contacts on Illium, Sekat, sent a message to me through encrypted transmissions. He says he has found the coordinates of the Shadow Broker's base of operations, but it seems the Broker struck first. Sekat was about to set a meeting point when the refinery he was at exploded. Shadow Broker soldiers have the place surrounded and the police are having a hard time getting inside. We need to extract Sekat if we want a chance of finding the Broker and ending this!"

"About damn time, if you ask me," Marcus cursed, pushing his plate away for a final time, "I've been wanting to end the Broker since that cowardly attack on Illium. Where's the meeting point?"

"A Eldfell-Ashland Refinery on Illium," Liara replied. Marcus was skeptical, as this could easily be a trap, but he wasn't going to lose a lead like this. But if a refinery had been blown up...Samara might be interested in this.

"I'll have Joker set a course," the spectre declared, "I'll bring Tali and Samara as well."

Liara gave him a nod of affirmation before standing up and turning to leave. Before she could, he grabbed her arm and turned her towards him, an angry look on his expression, "Can you not sit down and talk to me for a few minutes? You've barely looked me in the eyes or spoken a word to me since we escaped Illium."

"We don't have time for conversation," Liara bluntly shot back, ripping her arm from his grip as she took a step backwards, "I have to find out how to deal with the Broker! I have to save Feron!"

"We've got three days before we reach that refinery," the spectre declared, inching closer to her, "The least you can do is have a  _five minute_ talk with me. I haven't seen you for two years, and the first time I meet you again, you tell me you can't join my crew. Now I get a chance to see how you've been, and you shrug me off. And don't tell me its just me; Garrus and Tali have been telling me the same things! The only person you ever talk to is Samara, and that's about  _biotic attacks_."

"You want to know how I've been? Fine," she snapped, jabbing a finger into his chest as some of the innocence in her eyes melted away, "I  _mourned_ you. I cried my eyes out for months after your death. I didn't know what to do with myself. Then I met Feron; I became an information broker, and I eventually loved him. I fought tooth and nail to keep your body from falling into the Shadow Broker or the Collector's hands, and then I hand you over to Cerberus, an organization  _you despise_. Then I think Feron dead and I live the rest of my life in a  _office_. So yeah, my life is pretty  _great_."

He shook his head, "You don't have to take it out on  _me._  I don't hold any grudges over you about Cerberus; you did what was necessary to bring me back. And now Feron is alive, and you have a chance to rescue him! But we're your friends Liara; we fought Saren together, I rescued you on Therum! The least you could do is at least  _talk to me_."

"I can't do that Shepard," Liara whimpered, pulling away from him, "I've lost too much already. I've got work to do, you should get some rest."

He moved to grab hold of her arm again, but she was already again, racing towards the Starboard Observation Room. He stood there, features blank, not knowing what to think.  _She won't even talk to me. The Liara I knew...is she truly gone? What have I created?_

Because she wasn't Liara T'Soni.

She was what he engineered her to be.

**{Loading...}**

_October 31, 2185_

_1420 hours._

_Chieftain's Quarters, Urdnot Camp, Hagalok City Ruins, Que'k Wastelands, Tuchanka._

_Chieftain Urdnot Wrex, Chieftain's Adjutant Urdnot Wreav._

Life for Wrex wasn a dull affair; or at least, now it was. Every hour of every day of every week of his life was now spent listening to krogan warlords drone about 'traditions' and 'sacrilege' while he would occassionally get a message from the Council CDEM garrison in orbit. It was times like this he wished he could leap out into the Wastelands and gun down hordes of varren, klixen or even fight the rachni again. Or geth. Or Saren. Or blow up a Reaper.

 _Damn it; you're getting too bloody nostalgic. Wish I could have left with Shepard; all this politics is getting to me. I'd rather be killing off Collectors than talking with these idiots._ But from what he was seeing all over the extranet, Shepard had already passed through the Omega 4 Relay and brought about the extinction of the damn insects.  _Good riddance. Those things were nothing but trouble. Hard to forget the amount of krogan they've abducted._

The Normandy was alot more accomodating than Tuchanka, that much was sure.

Tuchanka was still the nuclear rubble it had been when Shepard left a month ago. Vast megacities built by the Ancient Krogan, now razed to the ground by nuclear fires that had burnt themselves out thousands of years ago. Vast, desolate wastelands teeming with Tuchanka's native wildlife; varren, klixen, and thresher maws. And all over the planet, blossoming heat ruled, with krogan clans battling for supremacy on a world rife with a sterility plague slowing eating their race bite by bite.

It was a children's playground. A  _radioactive, vicious_ Children's playground that was just as likely to consume you as it was to house you.

In other words, Tuchanka was no friendly planet. And neither was its people.

Wrex sat on the edge of his massive stone bed, the krogan preferring hard surfaces rather than the softened surfaces that fleshies preferred. Blanket were unnecessary on a planet like Tuchanka; the sun was always baking, and the nights offered no safe haven. It was home for krogan, but other fleshies? They wouldn't last a week. Maybe the turians...but not many others. There, he sat, listening to Wreav drone on as he paced the length of his quarters, babbling his mindless nonsense about 'giving in' to the clans, and 'giving them the bloodshed they rightfully deserve.'

Wrex paid attention of course, as was his duty as Clan Chieftain and Arbiter of the Clans, but it didn't mean he had to enjoy it. His look was that of a bored soldier with nothing to do, nothing to kill, and therefore was a mindless husk without a duty. The krogan clan chief would give anything to enjoy the feel of a claymore shotgun in his hands again, charging relentless hordes of enemies as he shed their blood...unity and hope was good and all, but it was nothing to the bark of a weapon as it fired and chewed up your enemies.

"This peace won't last forever!" Wreav insisted, continuing his frantic pacing, "You must appease them! They deserve their vengeance! We must begin to seek a cure for the genophage and, once acquired, we must burn Sur'Kesh and Palaven to the ground in revenge for what they did to us!"

"I don't have to appease  _anyone_ , Wreav. Something you seem keen on forgetting," Wrex spat, standing up to his full height and easily towering over his blood brother, "I will run their clans into the ground if I have to, but I will not be returning to the krogan to the ways that got us into this mess in the first place. We will rise from the ashes; but we will not be the violent warmongers we once were. Our militaries will return to their former glory, but this time their guns will be pointed at the most powerful enemy imaginable; the Reapers. They are all that matters. Besides, you've already appeased them, haven't you, Wreav?"

Wreav tried to play the confused one, "I don't know what you're talking about, Wrex."

Wrex rolled his eyes, sighing, "You insult me by not asking for my sanction, and now you further insult me by denying it," in a flash, Wrex's head rammed into Wreav's, causing the krogan to reel backwards in barely concealed pain, roaring his own, meek defiance as he shrunk back from his stronger brother, weakening under Wrex's blood red glare.

"You know very well what I mean Wreav," Wrex continued, sending a fist flying into Wreav's gut, sending him further back, "I'm talking about the salarian that Urdnot Torsk had abducted and pushed into a varren pit? The same salarian that said varren then feasted on while he was still alive?"

Wreav gulped, standing back up fully, as if gaining some of his courage back, "What Torsk did was out of my control. Besides, we did it for fun!"

"For  _fun_?" Wrex growled, grabbing Wreav and pulling him within inches of his face, "You call feeding an innocent civilian to varren  _fun?_  How about I let the salarians put you in a wood chipper and we'll see how fun they find that. I know I'd find it quite amusing."

Wreav looked flabbergasted, "You cannot possibly be-"

"Tell Urdnot Torsk that if he does that again, I'll have him fed to Kalros," Wrex blatantly declared, "He's a valuable warlord, but I will not tolerate his insolence here. He will follow my command or I'll sweep him out of the way. We need all the allies we can get when the Reapers arrive, and the thing he just did? That  _loses_ us allies. Every ally we lose is an ally not standing by our side when the Reapers attack."

"You and these Reapers," Wreav scoffed, waving a dismissive hand, "You've spent too much time with this human, Shepard. He's rotting your brain cells with his stupidity and delusions of god machines. I don't believe these Reapers even exist."

"Then you're a bigger fool than even the Council. Or Udina," Wrex snapped, smiling inwardly at the added joke.  _Never like that human ambassador. Too slimy and shady for my liking._ "You've been spoon-fed propoganda, and from the Council no less. I've fought a Reaper, and I know damn well they exist. They're coming for us, and if the krogan aren't united, they will take us apart piecemeal."

"Ha! These Reapers are just machines!" Wreav guffawed, "Even if they do exist, let them come! We'll wipe them out!"

"You're the dumbest pyjak I've ever had the displeasure of being born a brother of," he grabbed Wreav's head and, once more, pulled him close, his voice a low, predatory growl, "These Reapers don't show pity or mercy, Wreav. I've seen what just  _one_ of them did to the Citadel Fleet, and the Alliance Fifth Fleet, and that's nothing compared to what  _thousands_ of them will do. You think fighting them will be easy? They call them  _sentient starships_ for a reason, you ingrate. Every single one of them is a thousand times your size, dwarfs anything we have, and will most assuredly wipe us out if we do not take a stand. The Reapers are beyond our comprehension, Wreav. That's something you can't bloody understand."

"Then make me understand," Wreav snarled, but Wrex just let go of him, moving away with a grin on his face as he sat on the bed.

"That's not something that can be done. Not for dumb pyjaks like you," Wrex declared, sighing, "Now please, leave me be and tell the clans my terms. They can accept them or challenge me to combat; the latter of which won't end well for them, assure them of that. Now be gone."

Wreav huffed like a spoiled child before marching out of the krogan's quarters, door sliding shut behind him and locking. Wrex exhaled as if he had just been released of some tight hold and immediately opened his omni-tool, moving to see what was going on in the galaxy. But when he did, he saw that Grunt, Shepard's new krogan and now a new member of Clan Urdnot, not to mention the second to defeat a Thresher Maw in the Rite, had sent him a message. Frowning, he opened it.

_To: Urdot Rx._

_From: UrdOt GRnt._

_Subject: ShepHeRd._

_Cheeftan, I hve cum to the concluezon that ShepHERd iz find ing goooooD fits._

_We are current ly fitting the Shado Brokeher, and he is a powherfull eneme. We are now goinG TO illeum to hellp sum workhers at a reefine-ery and find a man named Sacat. It will be glore-eous. I will. enjoe the fit. Wish you cud b here._

_From: UrdOt GRnt._

_To: Urdot Rx._

Wrex sighed, laughing at the krogan's illiteracy.  _He's still just a few months old anyway._ So instead of reading the message, he set his spell check into correcting it all before he read it. This time,  _properly._

_To: Urdnot Wrex._

_From: Urdnot Grunt._

_Subject: Shepard._

_Chieftain, I have cum to the conclusion that Shepard is finding good fights._

_We are currently fighting the Shadow Broker, and he is a powerful enemy. We are now going to Illium to help some workers at a refinery and find a man named Sekat. It will be glorious. I will enjoy the fight. Wish you could be here._

_From: Urdnot Grunt._

_To: Urdnot Wrex._

Wrex widened his eyes at this revelation and immediately shot up from his seat on the bed, deactivating his omni-tool.  _That's it. I can't take this anymore. First Geth, then Collectors, now he's fighting the_ _ **Shadow Broker**_ _? I am not missing this fight; not for all the politics on Tuchanka._

Without a single moment's pause, he reached under his bed and pulled out his claymore shotgun, along with a bandolier of thermal clips and grenades. He also picked out his favourite heavy pistol; the Carnifex Hand Cannon, and slid it onto a holster on his hip. He lowered his claymore in lower parry in his grip, strapped his bandolier across his chest, and marched outside, a massive grin on his face.

Time to catch a ride to Illium.

**{Loading...}**

_November 1, 2185_

_1446 hours._

_DARK SPACE._

_NAZARA._

_**"They have failed. Shepard proved stronger and more arrogant than we foresaw. Those which the organics call 'Collectors' have been destroyed. They have failed. Assuming direct control did not alter the balance and Shepard is starting to come a vanguard for others to follow. This changes nothing."** _

Another Reaper's voice, that belonging to Vanguard, one of the smaller of the Reaper brethren and born from a species called the Inusannon, echoed through the dark space to join with Harbinger's.

**"Shepard is a threat that must be dealt with. We are Nazara. We are eternal. These organics are but bacteria."**

Another voice, belonging to Oblivion, a Reaper of the same type as Vanguard, and born from a species called the Rumma'pa'cal, joined in with Vanguard's, programs echoing in agreement.

**"Sovereign-Nazara was destroyed by Shepard; it is our duty to avenge our brethren."**

Harbinger's impatience echoed throughout the massive Reaper fleet.

_**"These are the emotions of organics. Vengeance is a foreign concept; not one we embrace. Sovereign did its duty and failed. We will not avenge its programs, merely continue its purpose. We are the chaos on organic evolution. Shepard will be stopped, but not by us. Forces have been set in motion by others. Ascension will befall this prick of a galaxy, and there is no way Shepard can stop us. We are their salvation. They will learn to embrace their fate."** _

Vanguard was quick to be done with it, " **Very well. We accept this. I am the Vanguard, the Voice of the Reapers. Organic civilization will meet its end."**

Oblivion's voice disappeared as well with a leaving pass,  **"And I am Oblivion, Destroyer of Hope. I will obliderate all that stands before me. Shepard will die, whether at their hands, or mine. Ascension will be wrought."**

Harbinger was left to the silence of its own thoughts, with Vanguard, Oblivion and the rest of his fellow Reapers remaining silent, simply watching, patiently, as the Milky Way Galaxy got ever closer. But more importantly, the familiar sight of a pulsing blue mass relay, but mere weeks away.

_**"Nothing will stop our arrival. We are coming. Our numbers will overwhelm the galaxy, and will override feelings of hope, resistance and confidence. They will weaken and be harvested. They will claim war, but to us, it is a harvest. An extermination. Those who do not accept the salvation we bring will not ascend. They will not live to join us; or to become the next of our brethren. Shepard, you cannot stop us. The time of your resistance is at an end. Your galaxy will fall. You will fall. Your species will fall. Those you cherish so much, will fall. It is inevitable."** _

The Alpha Relay was growing ever closer, and soon, the Reapers would pass through it, and destruction would rain.

_**"In the end Shepard, we will be victorious. The cycle cannot be broken. It has been like that for billions of years. We are the Harbinger of your salvation, and you will be the first of many to experience a true rebirth...in Reaper form. We have never lost. Never succumbed. In the end, you will all die. And now, your time will arrive."** _

_**"We are Harbinger. And you cannot stop the Arrival."** _

And with that, he sent a signal through the galaxy and into the system the organics called the Bahak System. And there, deep inside an asteroid, a Reaper artifact roared to life.

**{Loading...}**

_November 1, 2185_

_1503 hours._

_Refinery Entrance, Eldfell-Ashland Refinery, Nos Astra, Illium._

_Justicar Samara, Information Broker Liara T'Soni, Chief Engineer Tali'Zorah vas Normandy, Commander Marcus Lee Shepard._

Samara had not expected to return to Illium so soon after leaving it, but it seemed that nothing was ever to schedule on the Normandy, and therefore the justicar found herself on Illium, wondering Nos Astra's streets once more. Samara loved Illium no more than she loved Omega, the place being a magnet for crime, and worser still, or at least for the criminals themselves, a magnet for someone like a justicar.

Their skycar had landed a few meters back and the four of them now approached the refinery at a brisk pace, weapons drawn and raised. Marcus was, of course, in his Terminus Armor, shouldering the Revenant LMG once more as he pushed forward, biotics on standby. On his left was Liara, her Tempest SMG raised, the asari's pose confident, while Tali moved forward on her right, her odd choice of shotgun being an obsolete Armageddon model, but when she asked why the quarian chose the weapon over her plasma shotgun, she simply replied that it was 'time to bring on some nostalgia.'

Samara simply moved up behind them, her own vindicator assault rifle primed and on her back, but as always, the justicar preferred to stick to her biotics, as most justicars did. In most cases, her biotics proved more effective and reliable than her own weapons, proving that they had just become another part of her body; like using an arm or a leg.

She turned her gaze to look up and her pose became more seriousness, her code kicking in for now as she highed the burning building; that was why she was here, right now. Many workers had been hurt or killed by that explosion, and her code dictated that she must protect the innocent. Many claimed that her justicar code, even her own people, was far too harsh in this regard, as the code dictated that 'a justicar must act upon her gut and not the evidence. If a murderer has murdered, you do not question if there is evidence to support it, you simply stop them before they can bring further harm.' It was one of the reasons why justicars had such a bad track record and usually stuck to asari space.

Flames spewed out of the top of the refinery, great plumes of dark smoke erupting from the top like clouds of black, corrupting the beautiful, purple sky with its toxic fumes of death. The heat could be felt from all the way over where they were, with Nos Astra's Fire Department fast on the scene, only to evade missiles as the Shadow Broker's mercs kept them at bay.

How could Sekat be in that building and still be alive? The idea baffled her. The refinery appeared to be completely in flames, with only the upper levels having survived, and the Shadow Broker's soldiers seemed to be occupying the roof, so the likelihood of any survivors on the lower levels was minimal at best. Still, it would not do to let innocents die, despite the odds. Another part of the justicar's code that demanded to be satisfied.

A shot tore through the street and impacted Shepard square in the chest, kinetic barriers flickering as they sparked into action. He shouted, ordering them into cover as he fired a burst in the general direction of the shot before diving into cover himself, barely avoiding a second burst of gunfire from the same area.

Out of hiding came three mercenaries, but they weren't the Broker's typical soldiers; they were Blue Suns; they'd recognize that blue and white armor from anywhere. Two turians and a batarian.  _But why would the Broker send inadequate mercenaries to do his dirty work when he has a private army of better-trained soldiers at his command? Maybe he thinks he has drawn too much attention to himself by using his own soldiers, and has decided to go for the more low-key attack style. Intelligent._

She came out of cover and watched as Liara picked up one Blue Suns centurion, a turian, and tossed him into a wall with her biotics, the man's bones snapping from the impact and causing him to fall back down to the ground lifelessly. Activating blue tech armor, the batarian charged forward, firing blindly, unaware of the bead that Shepard was bringing down on him.

A biotic flare slammed into the batarian, flowing apart his tech armor. Panicking, he moved to raise his avenger, only to have Shepard slam into him at full speed, the spectre appearing in a bright blast of light before he rammed his rifle into the batarian's mouth and squeezed the trigger, blowing his head clean off his shoulders.

The third and final Blue Suns merc tried to turn tail and retreat, only to run into Tali, the turian running right into her at such a position that her shotgun was already up and waiting, now jabbing into his chest. She pulled the trigger and watched as the turian literally flew backwards, his intestines and blood rolling along the flight path of his body before it came to a stop at their feet.

Marcus sniffed, seeming barely fazed by the battle, "Blue Suns mercenaries; didn't think I'd be encountering these assholes again anytime soon. Was sick and tired of fighting these people when I was fighting the Collectors; I don't need to be fighting more of them."

"At least they're not the Broker's professional bunch," Liara remarked, "They'll be easier to kill."

Samara shot the asari a glare, not liking how the information broker had so casually thrown the idea of killing about like it was the norm. Yet again, on the Normandy, it pretty much was.  _Still, I will have to keep a watch on this young one. She is of a ruthless bunch, to which the code has no tolerance for._

The group pushed forward and did not encounter any further Blue Suns resistance; they most likely thought they had been dealing with an Illium Tactical Response Team, and not the elite operatives now approaching the refinery: a mistake on their part. As they moved forward however, Samara's omni-tool beeped and, seeing as there was no hostiles at the present moment, she opened it, displaying the information packet she had been sent.

It took her a full six minutes to review all the info, and it left her completely bewildered. No, she couldn't believe it. It couldn't be true. Not her. Not now. Why would she do that? Its...its not like her at all. But the evidence was there, as the anonymous source had sent, and there was no denying it.  _The poor child. I cannot believe I have to do this. That she would do such a thing..._

The code demanded sacrifice at this very moment. It demanded  _justice._

And just like that, she almost teared up, omni-tool deactivating as her biotics charged and she looked up, eying her target, the criminal she now had to kill, fury entering her eyes.

You betrayed us.

You betrayed Shepard.

You betrayed the Normandy.

And for that, you must die.

_I'm sorry, Shepard. You will come to understand._

And without further hesitation, Samara leapt forward, homing in on her oblivious target.

**{Loading...}**

_November 1, 2185_

_1503 hours._

_Refinery Entrance, Eldfell-Ashland Refinery, Nos Astra, Illium._

_Chief Engineer Tali'Zorah vas Normandy, Information Broker Liara T'Soni, Commander Marcus Lee Shepard, Justicar Samara._

It had all happened to quickly. So suddenly. She had never seen it coming; noone could have. One minute she had been storming towards the refinery, ready to liberate it from the Blue Suns besieging it, ready to save the workers inside, and most of all, ready to rescue Sekat and locate the Shadow Broker, so they could finish this battle once and for all.

And the next she was flying through the air, a massive force of brutality and biotics slamming into her back and sending her flying forwards, shotgun ripped from her grip by the sudden force and sending her slamming into the ground, completely and utterly winded as she tried to dry-heave in any air she could. She rolled onto her back and her eyes widened in shock.

Her attacker was Samara. And the justicar now stood over her, approaching at a steady pace. She had no idea what to think.  _Has she...has she betrayed us? No...no! That's not like Samara at all! She swore allegiance to Shepard! Was she an agent for the Shadow Broker this entire time? Keelah! Why is she attacking me!?_

"Samara, why are you-" Tali was preparing to say, but only managed to finish with a gurgle and a couch as Samara's hand clenched around her throat, causing the quarian to try and uselessly claw at her hand.  _Defend yourself you pitiful woman!_

_No, its Samara! She must have a reason for this! If I try and reason with her..._

Samara's hand clenched and the other hand raised up in a biotic fist, the justicar's eyes filled with vehemence and pent up fury.  _She's...angry? What did I do to deserve this? Why is she attacking me!?_

"Samara, enough!" Marcus practically growled and she desperately tried to look over at her mate, but Samara's hold wouldn't let her turn, only kept her in place as the justicar seemed to lower her fist slightly. She gulped, only wanting to see Marcus' eyes so that she knew everything would be okay.  _Am I going to die? No, I have to do something! Anything!_

"She is a traitor Shepard," Samara growled back, fist raising once more, "I am only doing this out of great reluctance, but she has turned on us. I must do this."

_Traitor? But I would never betray...who the hell gave her that idea? She served alongside me; even if someone lied, how could she believe that so quickly? Something can't be right! No! No, this isn't right! Something's wrong! Who could have possibly-_

"Are you insane?" Marcus shouted, placing an arm on the asari's shoulder, "Tali would  _never_ betray us! I've served with this woman longer than I've known you! I  _demand_ to see evidence, Samara!"

"You want evidence? Very well," Samara growled, her omni-tool powering up at her voice command and showing Marcus a large cache of information, "Information from an anonymous source  _proves_ that Tali was in contact with the Broker the entire time. She was the one who disabled the Rayya's communications and defenses; it makes sense, only Tali would have the expertise to do such a thing. Then she made it out to be that she was innocent; besides the fact that noone would suspect the Normandy's Chief Engineer! She is a liar and a traitor!"

Samara's burning gaze evaporated and she turned to Tali, calm and cold replacing the fire in her eyes, "Tali'Zorah has betrayed all of us; your  _mate_  has been lying to us this entire time."

Tali looked up and met Marcus' gaze, which was looking at her in pure shock and betrayal. Tears brimmed in her eyes and she shook her head, "That's a  _lie._  I would  _never_ betray my people like that! P-p-please M-Marcus, you  _have_ to believe me. I've been there since the beginning and you know me. I would never-"

"Enough of your lies, Tali'Zorah," Samara firmly dictated, glowing fist raised once more as her hold on Tali's throat tightened, "For your treachery, Tali'Zorah vas Normandy, I sentence you to death. You have betrayed your closest friends, your closest allies and most of all, your mate. I was wrong to trust you, we all were, but this will continue no longer. Maybe you find peace in the embrace of the goddess." And then her fist rose, poised to strike down.

"No."

The hand was so sudden, so out of nowhere, but it was there, like a guardian angel. An armoured gauntlet grasped Samara's biotic arm, stopping it mid flight. Samara, surprised, snapped her look up, meeting Marcus' cold eyes as he took off his helmet.

"But commander-"

"I said no," Marcus growled, "Tali is  _not_ a traitor."

Samara's surprised gaze turned into a look of anger as she moved to strike Tali again, only to be blasted back by a shockwave of biotic energy from Marcus, sending the justicar tumbling to the side as the spectre assumed a protective stance between him and Tali, the man prepared to defend his mate from the asari justicar. Liara came to his side as well, SMG prepared ready, her friend and mate ready to die protecting her.

_No..._

_Something's wrong..._

_What made her...?_

Then it hit her. The message. The anonymous sender; how could they be so stupid? How could they not realize what the Broker was doing? He was trying to get them to turn against each other, to kill each other, and by using this supposed 'evidence,' he had planned to trick Samara into killing her. It made sense, and Tali would have commended it, if it did not involve making friends kill friends.

Samara was preparing to charge them when she came to her feet, "STOP THIS MADNESS! Don't you see what he's doing!?"

Marcus frowned, turning towards her, "What do you mean, Tali?"

"Yes, speak traitor." Samara stated coldly.

"I am no traitor, because that evidence is a  _fabrication_ ," the quarian shot back, earning her more confused looks from the three. Sighing, she continued, "Don't you see? The Shadow Broker is toying with us! He's hiding as an anonymous user so that he could trick Samara into killing me, which would then end in Marcus killing Samara! He's trying to get us to pick  _each other_ off, one by one!"

Samara shook her head, "But the evidence is absolute."

"And so he'd like you to think," Tali declared, "That evidence is easily conjured up, especially by people as influential as the Shadow Broker. A matter of fact, I bet you that he lured us here for that sole purpose. He ordered the mercenaries to blow this refinery so that he'd find a lure for Samara to come with us. Then all he had to do was send Samara the 'evidence' and let it all work itself out. Don't you see? This was all a trap!"

Silence fell upon the group except for the crackle of flames and sirens in the distance and all they all exchanged glances. Eventually, Samara's stance softened, biotics disappearing as she came to terms with what she was told and Marcus and Liara lowered their own weapons.

"Well fuck," the spectre cursed, standing up, "I can't believe we got played like that. That smart son of a bitch."

"You deserve an apology," Samara stated cooly, approaching until she stood inches from the quarian and Tali found herself subconsciously rubbing the bruised areas around her throat, "I acted rather rashly, which is unbecoming of a justicar. I should have checked the authenication. I ought to have more faith in this crew."

"Damn right," Marcus growled, still not forgiving Samara for her attempted murder of Tali, "But I'm not willing to hold grudges. Now, let's get-wait."

Everyone stopped moving as soon as he finished, all gazes fixed on him as he spoke, "What is it, Marcus?" Tali asked curiously, garnering her a look from Marcus. A look of sudden epiphany.

"Oh shit," the spectre exclaimed, "Remember how you said the Broker's getting us to turn on each other?"

"Yeah..." Liara answered for her, dragging it out for added effect.

"Well I don't think that's limited to us," he trailed off and picked up his helmet, slamming it onto his head as he locked it in place and ran in the opposite direction, "Shit! Double time it, back to the Normandy!"

And everybody  _ran._

**"The Shadow Broker was relentless."**

**\- Tali'Shepard pav Rannoch.**

**"Seeing Samara about to kill you was a position I never thought I'd see myself in. I never thought I'd take up a fist to one of my own crew."**

**\- Marcus Shepard.**

**"You did what was necessary. And if I had died, you never would have found out about the Broker's intentions."**

**\- Tali'Shepard pav Rannoch.**

**"True enough."**

**\- Marcus Shepard.**

**"So does it go from there on?"**

**\- Tali'Shepard pav Rannoch.**

**"It got worse.** _**Much** _ **worse."**

**\- Marcus Shepard.**

_**A/N:** _

_**My mood is soured at the moment at the announcement that SOPA (America's 'Stop Online Piracy Act') is planning to try and bring down Fanfiction from the internet. You want to help in stopping these assholes from winning and destroying the inspiration of multiple authors? Then stop SOPA.** _

_**I know this chapter might seem a bit bland, and there was a scene I was going to add that I'm going to leave out and add in next chapter, but I was kinda...out of it, to be honest. Don't worry though, subsequent chapters will be much better. And we're getting closer to a crucial point in Shepard and Tali's relationship. ;)** _

_**Keelah Se'lai!** _


	17. Deception

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A secret mission begins in the Bahak system. The Illusive Man's intel turns Omega into a battlefield. Meanwhile, horrible monstrosities are unleashed upon the station's unsuspecting belligerents.

**REQUIEM**

**CHAPTER SIXTEEN:**

**DECEPTION**

_November 1, 2185_

_1449 hours._

_Cockpit, Explorer-Class Freighter MSV Ground Zero, Bahak System, Bahak Asteroid Belt._

_Chief Scientist Amanda Kenson._

The Bahak System. Located deep in the Viper Nebula, the system was in batarian space, not far from the batarian homeworld itself, Khar'Shan. It had a total of five, totally unremarkable worlds, one sun and a huge asteroid belt, full of some of the biggest planetoids the galaxy had, which Kenson's Project Flagship, the Ground Zero, was now flying through, masking its signature from the batarian patrols that flew through the system.

The planets of the system was Clogon, Aratoht, Yunaca, Urmola and Bastzuda. The only planet colonized by the batarians out of all of them was Aratoht, and even that only had a stable population of three hundred thousand, all of which were mostly centralized around the capital of Ectah, and the multiple prison facilties that occupied the world, with Aratoht be labelled 'the center of batarian criminal housing.'

Aratoht itself was the worst hell imaginable; half the planet was shrouded in searing heat; no lava or volcanoes or anything, but was just unbareably hot, reaching temperatures that would make Therum seem tame. The other half of the planet was humid and largely covered in tropics, the planet almost resembling Pragia in how many times it rained. 'Tropics' was a term used reluctantly, as the jungles that once occupied it were now mostly gone, replaced by countless batarian prisons set up on the hellish planet.

The other planets were mined for resources by the Hegemony periodically, and Aratoht was largely shrouded in batarian patrols, which made what Kenson had to do extremely risky. She was acting as an undercover operative for the Alliance under the title name of 'The Project' organization. They had no IDs or psyches that related them to the Alliance, making them easy to deny all relation to the faction. To the galaxy, they were just civilians with guns, wondering into space they shouldn't.

The Project's mission; to find proof of the Reaper's existence and find a way to help Shepard stop them. It was ridiculous, and Admiral Hackett had only garnered the resources to fund them by a hair length, but he had done it, and now here they were. And in Kenson's mission to find that evidence, she had been lead to the Bahak System.

She hadn't found evidence, not really, but she had found the Bahak Relay, officially known as the Alpha Relay due to the fact that it was the oldest known relay in existence; dating back as far as billions of years old; of course, the Council wouldn't let the public know that, as it might raise 'questions' about a well-known myth; that the Protheans built the relays and the Citadel.

The reason she was so interested it was the fact that the Alpha Relay wasn't just linked to the standard relay network; it was linked to an alternate source. Many ships had passed through it, and the majority reached other relays but, occassionally, they would never pop up on the other side and would vanish, and while she doubted it was a second cause of the Omega 4 Relay, she knew something was up.

And her discoveries revealed something scary; the Alpha Relay was also linked to a relay  _outside_ the known galaxy, building proof that there may be Reapers waiting to activate the relay and attack, facilitating their return; and earlier than they should. This was troubling, and Kenson knew she had to put a stop to it.

So the Ground Zero searched through the asteroid field, looking for a sizable asteroid that was the same size as the relay for them to build a base on; a base of operations for their attack. Kenson knew what had to be done; the only way to stop the Reaper's arrival was to cut off their source of entrance; they had to find a way to  _destroy the Alpha Relay._  And this, was no mean feat, for everyone knew mass relays were indestructible.

A myth Kenson was determined to prove wrong.

Despite the relays being made of strong alloys, she knew their was a way to destroy one, and she knew she would find a way. But first, she had to build a base. And to do that, it had to be somewhere in the system that the batarians would never find. An Asteroid was perfect; noone would suspect it. Destroying the relay however would have untold consequences; everyone saw what just one element zero explosion could do, and just one mass relay packed enough to supply the entire galaxy's armadas. An explosion of that size would be phenomenal.

But despite the risks, they ultimately had no choice. The Reapers couldn't be allowed to succeed. The survival of all life as they knew it depended on it.

Doctor Kenson was anything but a remarkable woman. She had simple tastes, and her field wasn't anything fancy either, even if it was now devoted to stopping the return of a race of god-like machines from intragalactic dark space. She was around forty-eight years of age, so she was far from young, and she had thick concentrations of mascara around her eye lids, with a thick mop of silvery hair to complement her dark eyes. She wore a simple, white labcoat, and her skin was peachy to the point of almost being white.

Kenson stood before the viewscreen of the Ground Zero, hands clasped behind her back. The Alliance had supplied her with numerous, highly-trained marines, all with repainted armor and helmets; all painted in black and blue. Her ship had a full battalion's worth of them, with a sizable amount of scientists to compliment them and workers. The lower decks of the ship contained the prefabs they would need to build the base; which in scope, was a massive facility. The Alliance had also provided her with fusion torches, apparently already guessing as to where she'd eventually put the base.

"Ma'am," one of the navigators called out, garnering the attention of Kenson as she turned to face him, her eyes meeting his.

"Yes?" Kenson replied in her motherly tone, the woman being known for how much of a overprotective sap she sounded at times.

"Scanners have picked up an asteroid of considerable size. Its about twelve kilometers in sheer length and nine in width. Round about the same size of the asteroid the batarians tried to drop on Terra Nova, Doctor."

 _Perfect._ "Take us towards it; have two teams prepped for EVA insertion to begin prepping the fusion torches for deployment and usage. We'll want to begin very soon."

"One more thing doctor," the man continued, pointing at unusual readings on his terminal screen, "Scanners are picking up pulsating amounts of energy coming from the center of the asteroid; they pulsate every three minutes, it appears. Its definitely coming from a beacon of somekind, but the technology isn't that of any known species."

"Prothean maybe?" Kenson asked, curious as she leaned over the man's shoulder to peer at the console.

"Possibly doctor," the man stated, "Might be worth a look, ma'am."

Kenson smiled warmly, patting the man on the arm, "You're definitely right. Tell another team to suit up and take the drill down; I want whatever is transmitting that signal found and brought up. It might be able to help us. If the Protheans were as advanced as scientists claim, they might know just how to blow up relays."

"Yes ma'am," the man finished on a high note, turning back to his console and typing frantically on it, sending out the commands. Kenson looked to the door and nodded to the two Project guards at the door, giving them a weary smile, which they returned; Williams and Jackson seemed like a pleasant pair. They were the nicest marines in their entire battalion; people she had come to trust.

As she turned back around to face the viewport however, watching as the ship approached their designated landing zone, she knew a battalion of marines wouldn't save them from what was coming. They would stop the Reapers or die trying, even if the Council wouldn't act. Shepard was too preoccupied to help, so that left them; humanity's first and last bastion against the incoming horde. It was all or nothing.

The Arrival was coming. And Kenson was intent on stopping it.

**{Loading...}**

_November 1, 2185_

_1521 hours._

_Airlock, Normandy-Class Stealth Frigate Normandy SR-2, Docked on Illium._

_Commander Marcus Lee Shepard, Chief Engineer Tali'Zorah vas Normandy, Information Broker Liara T'Soni, Justicar Samara, Flight Lieutenant Jeff 'Joker' Moreau, Yeoman Kelly Chambers._

Marcus found himself practically rushing into the Normandy's airlock, ignoring the looks of the multiple people around him, and waited for the decontamination cycle to run its course; Tali, Samara and Liara at his side, also waiting. He knew what the Shadow Broker was going to try and do. He knew that if he did it with Samara, the rest of the crew wouldn't be safe.

Finally, after what seemed to be hours of the decon system cleaning them off, the door finally shot open, allowing them to all rush inside the stealth frigate. They erupted onto the flight deck to find Kelly and Joker in the cockpit, practically waiting for them, with EDI's hologram hovering over her console, facing them.

They rushed over, Marcus removing his helmet and practically letting it drop to the floor as his eyes darted between the three of them; EDI was a hologram, so she displayed no emotion, Joker simply look tired and Kelly looked worried, along with tired, the yeoman still having not fully recovered from her ordeal on the Collector Base.

"Commander!" Joker exclaimed, not looking at all amused, despite his tone, "Took your time! The Normandy is ripping itself apart while you were playing around with that refinery! Seems like the Shadow Broker takes no time for R&R."

Marcus had no time to muck around with jokes. His look snapped to EDI, "What the hell is going on EDI? Just who has the Broker tricked in this fiasco?"

"Lia'Vael has vacated the Tech Lab due to a brewing confrontation between Professor Solus and Urdnot Grunt," EDI monotonely delivered in her feminine voice, "Kal has left the armoury and forced his way into the AI Core, and is now engaged in an argument with Legion that has reduced down to a confrontation as gunpoint. Jack has attacked Miranda in her office, and both are now engaged in violent argument. Kasumi has confronted Garrus in the Gunnery Control Station over supposed 'spying,' as Jacob has done something similiar to Thane, barging into Life Support. Madi is currently aiding Kal, and as far as I know, only you four and Kaidan have been saved the brunt of the Shadow Broker's cyber assault."

"Shit," Marcus cursed under his breath, immediately spinning around to face his team. Tali gave him a worried look but he shook his head, looking away from her and immediately marching down the flight deck, "I'll deal with this, starting with Mordin and Grunt. Someone's got to diffuse this chaos, and it'll be me."

"I'll try and get Kal and Madi to lay off Legion," Tali declared, marching down the CIC and moving into the elevator, hitting the button for the Crew Deck. He nodded to her upon her leave, storming through the box and into the Tech Lab, finding his two targets extremely quickly.

He found Mordin's desk had almost been torn from its bolted position on the deck and lifted over, only for the desk to hold steady. Mordin now stood behind, defiant and omni-tool raised, attempting to hold back the massive krogan supersoldier that now towered over him, claymore drawn and ready to blast the salarian to smithereens.

"Stop this madness!" Marcus roared, coming between them with his arms spread, turning to face Grunt's goliath form, "As your Battlemaster, I demand that you stand down!"

Grunt snorted, "Not until I've wiped the floor with this pyjak! Do you realize what he's been doing? He's been secretly trying to infect me with his modifed genophage! He thinks I might cure his little disease if I spread my seed around the females, so he wants to infect me! Please, Battlemaster, I must ask that you stand aside so I might color the walls green with his blood!"

"Krogan response to this predictable," Mordin sniffed, from behind him, omni-tool still raised despite Marcus standing infront of it, primed to launch a cryo blast, "However, assumptions false. He stormed into my lab, ranting about genophage, then saw personal project, thought it proof of his accusations. Left and returned with his shotgun. Been threatening me since. Reached a stalemate. Both parties in at disadvantages. Gone nowhere."

"Personal project?" Marcus asked, twisting his head around and quirking a brow. Mordin nodded, and pointed one of his three fingers at a jug on the almost uprooted table, and the spectre turned to face it, almost immediately recognizing it. Swirling around inside was a dark black liquid with the tell tale forms of sperm floating about inside.

He gulped, heat rushing to his cheeks as he turned back to Grunt, "Ah...Grunt...that's not...uh...shit. That's not...um...that's not a genophage virus strain. That's...its personal stuff."  _Didn't realize Mordin was displaying it like...like a prized specimen. I'm pretty sure Tali would want it kept secret. And I still haven't told her..._

Grunt fingered the barrel of his weapon, looking unconvinced, "He could have modified; lied to you maybe. You have no way to know whether he's lying or not!"

"I know that the Shadow Broker is playing you. He's playing  _the entire crew_ ," Marcus emphasized by placing a firm grip on Grunt's claymore and slowly pushing it down, the krogan soldier eying him suspiciously, "The whole ship is in chaos, and he recently tried to convince Samara to kill my mate," He looked Grunt directly in the eyes, "Don't you see? You kill Mordin, and the Shadow Broker's won."

Despite only being a few months old and the equivalent of a young baby in human terms, Grunt was matured enough to know that he had been deceived. After a few more seconds, he lowered his claymore, reattaching it to the clasp on his back, "Very well, Battlemaster. The Shadow Broker has played me for a fool, and I realize that now. Just one more thing though," he leaned in close and Marcus could smell the wave of bad breath coming from the krogan's maw, "I want to kill the Shadow Broker  _myself_. Noone plays me for an idiot;  _noone_."

"Glad you got here when you did Shepard," Mordin spoke up, deactivating his omni-tool and dropping his arm, Marcus lowering his own arms as he stood out of the way of his two colleagues, "Could have turned out bloody. Interesting that the Shadow Broker only now reverts to espionage and psychological warfare to attack us; should have used it before. Far more effective. Troops cost prohibitive. Useful, but expendable. Knowledge is power, I believe is a human saying. Very true."

He eyed the container for a moment and leaned in closer to the salarian for a moment, forgetting about the whole 'chaos on the Normandy' for a second as he whispered, "Just how...um...just how far have you gotten with...you know what?"

The salarian grinned, turning towards him, "Success in many ranges; won't be ready for a while, but results look promising. Maybe the first salarian able to help in creating reproduction abilities between different species. However, not as subtle as first thought. Assistant Vael discovered project. Ecstatic. Wanted to help. Allowed her. Has improved project expodentially. Quarian assistance far more productive."

Marcus nodded, shooting an awkward look between Grunt and Mordin, sighing in relief at noticing that the heated expressions had died from their faces, leaving them with calm features. Grunt nodded to Marcus and headed into the corridor between rooms, heading for the armoury. Mordin turned to the spectre and nodded, watching as Lia reentered the room.

"Its over?" Lia asked awkwardly and upon seeing them both nod, she sighed in relief, "Keelah. That was one heated argument. I honestly thought they'd kill each other. What did you do professor to anger Grunt so much?"

"False pretences," Mordin answered, simply motioning to the quarian/human reproduction experiment currently sitting on his desk, unscatched, "Will explain later."

Marcus nodded, turning to the door, "I'm going to try to settle this on the rest of the ship. It wasn't just you two Mordin; the whole ship is in chaos. It seems the Shadow Broker has taken a new turn in his war against us."

He didn't even turn around to acknowledge the nod Mordin threw his way, or Lia's hesitant stance as he rushed out of the tech lab, immediately making a mad run for the elevator. He tried to contact Tali to find out how things were going on her side, but there was no response.  _Must still be trying to get Kal and Madi to back off._ He moved into the elevator and quickly hit the button for the Crew Deck, silently wishing the damn elevator would hurry up and reach its destination.

After what seemed like an eternity of staring blankly at the elevator doors, the box finally reached the third deck and he rushed out, immediately homing in on the Life Support area. He could hear intense yelling from behind him and immediately turned around to watch the door to Miranda's quarters shoot open, and Jack came flying out, landing ungracefully on the ground like a duck being tossed.

The powerful biotic convict leapt to her feet, screaming in fury as she stood up to her full height, wrapped in blue energy. Miranda rushed out, an equally pissed off expression on her face as she faced Jack in a full battle position, also covered head-to-toe in biotics.

Deciding this situation was far more urgent he rushed between the two of them, hands raised and glowing with his own biotic abilities as he made sure he stood between the two powerhouses, "Enough! I order both of you to stand down!"

"Get the fuck out of the way Shepard!" Jack snarled, a powerful biotic flare forming in her palms, "I'm going to smear the walls with this lying filth! She was involved with what happened to me on Pragia! She may not admit it, but one way or another, she was involved and I intend to make her pay!"

"That is an absolute lie commander and Jack has already proven how unstable she is," Miranda growled back, both women shooting each other dangerous glares, both promising death to the other, "She's a ticking time bomb waiting to explode and I'm going to have to disarm her! I have no choice, Shepard!"

"Stop fucking lying you slut!" Jack shouted, about to charge forward only to be pushed back by one of Marcus' biotic fields. She shot him a nasty glare as she noticed his actions, "Don't try to-"

"Miranda was not involved with what happened on Pragia!" Marcus declared looking at both of them with a strong, firm gaze; a gaze that made most politicians melt, "This is all a trap! The Shadow Broker is playing with our minds and trying to get us to turn on each other! Its true! He recently just tried to get Samara to kill Tali, and Grunt to kill Mordin! The same thing is happening all over the ship as we speak! Don't give in Jack; don't let your dislike of Miranda control your judgement. Killing her will only mean that the Broker wins!"

"He speaks the truth child," Samara's calm voice came from the side, the asari laying a reassuring hand on Jack's hand to calm her down, faltering the convict's dissolving glare, "I was indeed almost tricked into killing Miss Zorah and if you are not careful, he will trick you as well. We cannot allow him to win. We must be stronger than that."

Jack shot three glances between the justicar, Marcus and Miranda before eventually letting her biotics die off. Miranda did the same, relaxing her stance as they both stood there, waiting to see what would happen. Jack looked up and met Miranda's eyes and, as much as it pained her to say it, she apologized, "I'm sorry, cheerleader. Shouldn't have let my anger control me like that."

"For all it means, I'm sorry as well," Miranda reciprocated, "I can't let the enemy get the better of me like that. We won't let him win," with that, his XO marched back into her office, obviously moving to clean it up, door shutting behind her. Marcus turned around and let his biotics die out, turning to see Jack, fists clenched and fuming with anger.

"Now I really want to kill that fucking Shadow Broker," Jack growled.

"Oh, don't worry," Marcus replied in kind, eyes seething with anger, "I'll make sure of that,  _personally_."  _This Broker has stepped well over the line. Its one thing sending his troops to kill me and my friends, but now he tries to get us to turn on each other? Unacceptable._ He nodded to Samara and Jack as he moved past, watching as Liara came rushing out of the elevator, eying him catiously.

"Liara," he moved up to her, hands on her arms, "I need you to go into Life Support and settle the situation in there! Make sure Jacob and Thane don't kill each other! I'm going to try and diffuse whatever's going on between Kasumi and Garrus!"

Liara nodded, rushing into Life Support as he spun around and rushed for the Gun Battery, stopping suddenly as the medical bay doors shot open and Tali, followed by Kal, Madi and Legion, rushed out. He nodded to the four of them, seeing that Tali had disarmed whatever was going on, which left Garrus and Kasumi. As he approached, he saw the door was locked, with Kaidan outside trying to force his way in.

"Commander," EDI's voice rained in, always seeming to pick the worst of times to contact him.

"I'm busy EDI," Marcus replied simply, but apparently the AI couldn't get the hint.

"Someone is waiting at the airlock," EDI continued, "I think you might-"

"Tell them I'm busy!" Marcus nodded to Kaidan, the marine moving aside as the spectre raised his arm, activated his omni-tool and used a brute force program to hack into the locked door. The program was done as it entered the system and the door shot open, revealing Kasumi and Garrus in a very heated argument, the man having never seen Kasumi so angry; unless you counted the mission in Donovan Hock's mansion. Both of them were literally inches from each other's faces.

"-believe you'd implant cameras in my room! I thought we trusted each other! Why the  _hell_ would you implant cameras to watch me? Are you some kind of sick pervert!" Kasumi yelled.

"Because I didn't!" Garrus growled, jabbing a sharp talon in her face, trying to use intimidation to get her to back off, and obviously failing, "I have absolutely no interest in you or seeing you naked! Well, maybe I do have an interest in you, but I-well maybe I-actually, forget I said that! Look, my point is that-"

"So you  _admit_ to wanting to see me naked!" Kasumi shouted back, waving her arms in the air like a bird about to take flight, "Yo-you-well, maybe I feel the sam-you pervert! I can't believe-the nerve-do you know what I'm going to do to you? I'll...I'll...um..."

"Do what?"

"Oh, to hell with it!" Kasumi suddenly grabbed onto the collar of the turian's armor and pulled him closer, "You're only young once, right!?"

And, in a marginably unexpected climax to their heated argument, Marcus and Kaidan watched in stunned silence as Kasumi suddenly pressed her lips against Garrus' mandibles, the turian's eyes visibly widening at the sudden contact, unsure of what to do about himself. His arms hung limply at his sides as the petite thief moaned into the kiss before reality set in and she suddenly shot back, noticing Marcus and Kaidan, and gasped, eyes widening in horror. Seeing what she was looking at, Garrus practically froze to the spot, unable to move or speak.

After a few minutes, it was Kaidan who broke the silence, "Um...what a sudden turn of a events."

"I don't think that's what the Broker planned when he wanted to turn us against each other," Marcus mumbled, scratching the back of his armoured neck out of habit, "Not that I'm complaining about the resolution. Its about time this ugly son of a bitch finally caught a woman."

Garrus scoffed awkwardly, taking the opening the spectre gave to rescue himself, folding his arms across his armoured chest, "Hey, the women were  _all over_ me when you were still trying to start a relationship, you dense ape! I've just found one I plan on keeping."

Marcus chuckled, pleased with how this particular argument turned out, "Well, I can't say this wasn't sudden. Honestly...was this even developing? I mean, I didn't even see any flirting before hand so...damn. Talk about spontaneously romance."

"To be honest, it wasn't really developing at all," Kasumi noted, crossing her arms as she leaned against Garrus' console, "It just sorta...appeared. Call it a heat of the moment thing."

"Well I'm happy for you," Marcus addressed both of them, "Both of you."

"Thanks Shep," Kasumi winked at him, carrying a devilish grin on her face.

Garrus was barely able to conceal the grin on his own mandibles, "Thanks Shepard. You know...now I'll be able to see what all this romance stuff is about. You and Tali always got the icing on the cake, figured its time I get a shot at it. Now I'll learn what all this stuff about 'having something to come back to' or 'having something to fight for' is all about."

Kasumi giggled evilly, eying his mascular turian frame, locking her eyes with Garrus', "Hmmm...what do you mean to 'come back to?' This is just a fling Vakarian; I'm just using you for your  _body_."

Marcus and Kaidan exchanged awkward looks while Garrus just blinked, unable to unhear what he just said. Kasumi wiggled her eyebrows before giggling again, obviously joking. Garrus laughed awkwardly with her, rubbing the back of his neck.

"You're so  _mean_ ," Garrus inched a bit closer and bumped hips with the woman, "And I'm okay with that."

"Okkkaaayyy..." Kaidan barged in, not liking where  _that_ line of thought was going, "I think I'm going to have to stop you there before you two get too far away from reality and forget that two people stand here."

"What, you think we're just going to drop down and have sex? Men," Kasumi pouted, pushing Garrus away and inching away, turning back to grin, "Women like to  _develop_ the relationship; and somehow I don't think we're at the sex phase yet."

"Ah, such a shame," Garrus jested, "And to think was about to make out some more. You know, for a human, you taste good."

"I'll take that as a compliment," Kasumi replied, palming the door interface.

"You could take it apart to find some hidden meanings," Garrus quipped.

Marcus rolled his eyes, "Oh for the love of god! You're making me and Tali look sublt-"

A familiar, deep-throated voice cut him off, "Garrus finally got himself a female? Well its about damn time you got your ugly ass someone to breed with. And to think I was going to hook you up with one of our females. A pity."

Marcus, Garrus and Kaidan, stunned by shock and surprise, spun around at the speed of light to find the familiar tall form of a krogan battlemaster standing in the doorway, and it wasn't Grunt. He was massive, even by krogan standards, and easily towered over Grunt. His eyes were blood red with dark irises, a crimson headplate and a hunched appearence, body wrapped by battle-scarred armor and a claymore shotgun holstered the back of his hips, with a pistol attached to his side. A massive toothy grin was pasted on his features.

They seemed to all speak at the same time as they exclaimed, "Wrex!"

The krogan moved inside, Kasumi sneaking out under the krogan's huge, bulky form, seemingly going unnoticed as she entered cloak and disappeared, "Surprised to see me? Well, I'm surprised myself really. I really ought to be on Tuchanka."

"What caused the predator to come sniffing for some prey?" Kaidan asked, laughing.

Wrex snorted, "That runt of yours sent me a message saying you were fighting the Shadow Broker himself and that the Collectors are now nothing more than a history book entry," Wrex's grin only widened, "Don't know what you did to piss the Broker off, but you can consider me in this fight. And with Liara onboard, it'll be just like old times."

"Damn right," Garrus stated, nodding to his krogan brother-in-arms.

"Not that I don't appreciate you being here Wrex but..." Marcus spoke up, expression suddenly serious, "Who's leading the clans with you gone?"

Wrex sighed heavily, "A female; and trust me, the krogan are very unhappy about it, but I don't trust anyone else with the position. Wreav is just waiting for an opening so he can kill me and take back his seat as Urdnot Chieftain, and Uvenk wasn't the last of those 'traditionalist' pyjaks. So far, only this female, the Shaman you met, Grunt and a massive portion of Urdnot seem to believe your story. But I guess they'll all believe it soon enough."

"So, you here to stay?" Marcus asked, curious.

The krogan waved his arm, "As much as I'd like to kick some more Reaper ass at your side, my people are going to need me, whether they realize it or not. I wish we could fight side by side, but trust me, I'm of more use to you leading krogan armies than fighting at your side. Somehow, I think that's how its going to end up. All of us, split up and fighting alongside our respective armies. It'll be a glorious battle; one that the history books of Tuchanka will remember well."

"Well, the Reapers aren't here yet, and right now we've got an angry Shadow Broker wanting us all dead," the spectre pointed out, "And it would seem this information 'deception' operation of his didn't go quite according to plan. Most of the crew now know what the Broker is up to and are ignoring him, Garrus and Kasumi's argument turned into a relationship and his actions unintentionally gained us an old ally. Overall, I actually think this day turned out for the best, don't you think?"

Wrex shrugged, "If it gets the old squad together, then why the hell not? Of course this day turned out great! Now, if you don't mind, I think I'm going to need quarters for my stay here. I think I'll just go into that shuttle bay of yours; served me well on the old Normandy, why not the same here?" he leaned closer to the spectre, smiling, "Talking about the new Normandy; I like what you've done with the place. Doesn't feel quite as claustrophobic as the old ship did."

Marcus smirked, "New and improved, Wrex. She isn't the SR-1, but she's close."

"Nothing can ever replace Pressly and Johnson...or Adams," Wrex listed off, remembering all the crew members he could, "But I'm sure the new crew will be just as inviting. But from the looks of it, it seems I'm not going to like this red head yeoman of yours; far too...invasive, for my liking. Now, if you don't mind, gotta inform Grunt I'm here, and drop in on my little quarian niece while I'm at it."

The krogan made a hasty retreat, leaving the three men alone in the gun battery, unable to comprehend what had just happened. Attempted assassination. Crew chaos. Kasumi and Garrus got together. Wrex joined the crew. What had started as a pretty shitty day, and turned into one of the best they'd had since the Collector defeat.

"Well," Kaidan spoke up, clearing his throat, "That was interesting."

They all laughed, "Indeed," was all Marcus could reply with.

The Shadow Broker would be brisling with anger right about now.

**{Loading...}**

_November 1, 2185_

_1548 hours._

_'Humanity's Sanctum,' Upper Levels, Cronos Station, Anadius System._

_The Illusive Man, First Lieutenant Geoff Dielheart._

"Give me details. Where do we currently stand, Lieutenant?"

The Illusive Man was fuming; current events had not gone well for Cerberus, especially in terms of the recent attack against Shepard and the quarians. Losing the Montgomery had been a major blow to his organization; their very first light cruiser and already it had been taken; not destroyed, but now flew under Migrant Fleet banners, of all the factions. Not only that, but an entire platoon of Cerberus commandos were dead, with Shepard, his quarian mate, Doctor T'Soni and Admiral Raan still alive. A failure of massive proportions.

He hadn't heard much from the Shadow Broker either, not since the incident on the Rayya, so it was a fairly quiet operation at the moment. On lighter notes however, the assault to take Omega and make it a Cerberus-occupied space station would begin soon; the first stage would involve getting the Omega divisions of the three mercenary groups; Blue Suns, Eclipse and Blood Pack, to launch a large scale attack on Aria's forces. Once both sides are severely weakened, the Illusive Man would deploy his newest toys; the Adjutants.

Due to the destruction of the Collector Base, the Illusive Man had very little access to their resources and therefore couldn't get his hand on any Reaper tech, but that didn't mean there was a lack of it. He had dispatched teams all over the galaxy to find areas where Collector activity was large, and even Aria T'Loak, the woman he was about to overthrow, had sent him husks; remnants of an assault she lead on Collector forces on her station a year ago. His teams had returned with more husks from Horizon, but were unable to find them anywhere else; not that it was needed.

The Husk and Scion corpses brought back were then dispatched to Avernus Station; Cerberus' key installation for the research of Reaper technology, and the one currently manufacturing the Reaper cybernetics he planned to install in his troops to make them stronger, smarter and faster; supersoldiers. Less than a week later, he had been sent a promising message.

The reason he had wanted the dead husks captured all linked to his ultimate plan of eventually controlling the Reapers, starting with assuming control over the Reaper's indoctrinated agents and their ground forces; as to which he had brought the full might of his contacts to bear, and with some of Sovereign's remains recovered, he was on the fast track to success; and the first stage to controlling them was to manufacture them.

Using a hybrid of Reaper tech and the cybernetic/organic metamorphosis used to create husks, the cell working on Avernus had reached a breakthrough and created the first non-Reaper made husk; christened as the Adjutant. However, from the images and information sent to him, this was unlike any husk seen before. It was a gigantic beast, easily towering over the biggest krogan, and almost on par with a yahg. It wasn't pretty either; the main body of it looked akin to that of a normal husk if it was ripped with muscle, with long scythes for claws, a strong upper body, and a rather large head that looked far too big for its body.

Its head was the most horrifying part of the creature; it had a large stem growing out of the center of its head, and two large, purple sacs attached to the side, akin to lungs, but were in fact an external  _brain_ of sorts. The creature's two eyes were located to the front and basically side by side, both glowing with purple ferocity that the rest of its body gave off.

The reason it was so unique was due to one feature; zombification. While many would list husks as 'techno zombies' or 'cybernetic walking dead,' they missed one feature that made them zombies; the ability to infect, and the Adjutant did not lack this. It was unexplained how the scientists were able to do it, but the Adjutant has a long series of tentacles on its back that extend and stab into the body of its victim, injecting it with Reaper nanites that are harmless one second, and then begin transforming the next. Within a minute, their victim is a Adjutant. A  _literal_ techno zombie, and they would soon be under Cerberus control.

Problem was that the Reaper tech made sure that the Adjutants still only reacted to Reaper command signals, and would be completely rabid if let loose; and while the Illusive Man developed a scheme to assume control over the Adjutants, he knew just the perfect place to unleash his new army of psychopathic zombies; Omega.

The Illusive Man's plan was to enslave a large population, have control chips planted in their brain, and then unleash the Adjutants on them. All the infected Adjutants would ignore Reaper signals and take only Cerberus commands due to the control chip in their host's brain, leaving Cerberus with an army of controllable soldiers. If that proved effective, he would then try it on more 'pure form' Reaper husks. And the thing with Adjutants is, it isn't species specific like husks are to humans; they can infect any species they wish.

Overall, the attack on Omega would go extremely well. The entirety of the Cerberus First Fleet and a total of forty thousand troops would be under Petrovsky's command, spearheaded by the pride of their fleet, the CAW Elbrus, bolstered by a vanguard of mindless, powerful adjutants. The entire plan was ready to spring into motion, and all he had to do was send the command.

Which he did. The Cerberus transport was now heading for Omega, and as of tomorrow, the battle for Omega would begin. And the Illusive Man and Cerberus would come out ontop and at the end of the week, Omega would bear the gold and white of Cerberus.

He had called on other investors for 'Project: Assimilation' as well, including the father of ex-First Lieutenant Miranda Lawson, Henry Lawson, the head of the Lawson-Fredler company, which was one of Cerberus' heaviest investors. Unable to keep himself away from anything that could potentially aid his own ambitions, Henry had been more than up to the task to tackle the indoctrination debackle. And as of now, the man was Cerberus. _I lost you Miranda, but I gained your father. I win in the end, I'm afraid._

With a heavy sigh, the Illusive Man basically dropped his cigar into the ash tray next to him and grabbed his whiskey bottle, pouring more into the glass to his left and taking a sip, eyes still fixed on the holo screens before him, which were almost dull compared to the tinted light Anadius omitted. Geoff stood behind him, about to read out the latest reports.

"Anything you want to hear specifically sir?" Geoff asked, ready.

"Give it all to me in one bite," TIM replied instantly, waving a dismissive hand as he continued reading over the reports he was getting. Most were faring far better than the failure of the wet works against Shepard, but yet again, those projects weren't under the Shadow Broker's watching eye, which explained alot.

"Very well," Geoff replied, hitting something on his datapad and began to read off, line for line of information, "All manufacturing stations and companies have met your dead line and the first forty thousand pieces of the new armor has rolled out, fresh with Cerberus colors and logos, ranging from the Assault Trooper armor to Centurions, Nemesis', Phantoms, Guardians and Combat Engineers, all ready to be used. The Reaper implants are also ready, so you just need to start fitting your commandos with the armor; the next sixty thousand sets are in production now. All forty thousand commandos will be fitted and ready by the time the Omega assault begins."

"Fantastic," TIM found himself saying, enjoying the news that Cerberus' army had officially begun to grow, "How about the Rampart mechs?"

Geoff nodded and scrolled down the pad, "Due to the fact that the Ramparts are simply modified LOKI mechs with VI processors, the Hahne-Kedar factory has reported that an astounding force of 3,487 Rampart mechs have rolled off the assemby line and are being shipped off to Athens Station; the FOB you have designated for the invasion of Omega."

"Good," TIM dictated, "I want the full complement sent to Athens and any more that are made will be distributed to Cronos Station so they can be mixed with our forces. The Ramparts will not engage in the invasion of Omega; however, when we take Omega, Petrovsky has taken the idea of using them as a police force to keep Omega's inhabitants in check; a sound strategy that I have authorized. Anything else?"

"The Atlases are fitting well into our forces and have been given a few modifications for added effectiveness in combat. They will support our troops quite well, and a hundred of them have been sent to Athens as instructed. The teams are now focusing on building turrets; small ones that can be deployed by our combat engineers at a moment's notice. However, I think you'll be most interested in the status of Project: Eva."

"Continue," TIM replied in a unimpressed tone.

"The AI itself is complete, and the body is close to finished, with the scientists adding a few finishing touches, along with a few bits of Reaper tech to enhance its abilities," Geoff informed him, "They've sent an image of what the final product will look like, and I have to say, it looks unmistakenably  _human_. Noone would know she's synthetic unless they dissect her or wound her."

An image of Eva appeared on his screen and TIM calmly examined it. He had to admit, he was definitely impressed. He had sent the scientists an image of what Eva Core looked like, and they had followed the specifications quite well. Her features were well rounded and smooth, showing a healthy, attractive human female in her late twenties or thirties. She had puffy, red lips, with a line of mascara around her eyes and dark green pupils.

Her eyebrows were thin and her nose small. Her breasts were quite large in size, which was the first oversight that TIM saw, obviously done by horny male scientists, and they were quite clearly larger than even Miranda's. Her hips were wide and seductive, with a thin waist line and a form-fitting labcoat of cobalt blue and milk white. Her hair was also way off from the orginal; where the human Eva had long, blonde hair tied in a ponytail, this Eva had raven black hair, curled up in a solid 'light shag' kinda style. Overall, it was an excellent imitation.

He minimized the image, "Very good; tell them I'm impressed by their progress, and when the project is complete, I want Eva sent to my office immediately for proper examination."

"Of course sir," Geoff continued, "I think you'll like this the most sir; the fleet. The entirety of the First Fleet is completed, comprising of one dreadnought, one carrier, three heavy cruisers, six light cruisers, eight destroyers, twelve heavy frigates, five light frigates and nine corvettes, with a fighter cover of sixty-eight fighters and fifty-two interceptors. What will follow is Second Fleet, Third Fleet, Fourth Fleet, Fifth Fleet, Sixth Fleet and Eighth Fleet. Petrovsky commands First Fleet, but as of yet, you have yet to pick admirals to lead the other fleets. These fleets will be lead by one dreadnought, and any number of battleships, cruisers, destroyers, frigates, corvettes, carriers or fighters you wish. As of now, fleet production will mostly spit out the same number of ships currently in the Alliance's arsenal, which is over two hundred warships, all manufactured in secret."

"A job well done," TIM congratulated, taking another gulp of his preferred alcohol, "That leaves with us with a total of eight dreadnoughts. That's one short of the Alliance, but that doesn't change much from where I stand. We've already got the Elbrus, so I christen the rest Lhotse, Annapurna, Gasherbrum, Ngadi Chuli, Nanda Devi, Rakaposhi and Pasu Sar. Make sure the names are passed on, and in that order, they'll be assigned to fleets."

"Done and done sir," Geoff replied, hooking the datapad under his arm, "Will there be anything else?"

TIM nodded. He had an idea for how to take out Shepard that didn't involve hitting him directly; only his family, or family-to-be.  _I can't hit him directly, so now I'll have to revert to plan B. I'll target his family; that'll get his attention while also landing a crippling blow to his self-esteem and morale._

"I want you to send a message to one of our agents in Alliance Naval Command on Arcturus," TIM ordered, "I want to know the location of a specific dreadnought; the SSV Orizaba. While doing that, I want you to have another platoon of our commandos ready to leave on a moment's notice. Have them take them take the CAW Malaysia and head to the coordinates I've designated and await further instructions."

"Very well sir," Geoff did so, but with a confused look on his face. After a while, he turned back to the Illusive Man to ask a question, but TIM could read his face easily, and knew what was coming.

"No, you may not ask why," TIM cut in, "While you're at it, tell Agent Leng to report to my office. I have a seperate assignment planned for him. Have a squad of our best hitmen assembled and have them report to Cronos Station immediately. I have a seperate mission planned for them as well."

Geoff nodded, bowed, and made a hasty retreat from the spaceous office.

A few minutes later, the doors to his office shot open again and the sound of footsteps echoed on the steel floor as they grew in sound until they stopped completely just behind him, the Illusive Man's attack dog standing mere inches behind him.

"Sir," Leng replied with the same thoughtless, cold, emotionless tone he always did, always giving the Illusive Man the thought of a machine, "You sent for me."

"That I did," TIM replied cooly.  _Never was the one for intelligence. He is terrible at leadership, and has a track record for disobeying orders he didn't like. But he's a brutal killing machine, noone could deny him that. If you told him to kill something, he'll do it. It doesn't matter if he makes steak out of his opponent, the fact is he killed them. Just hard to remember that he was once an N7,_ "I have a new assignment for you, one you might take immense joy out of. It involves Shepard."

As he turned around to monitor Leng's response, he noticed a shift in the assassin's usual stonewall expression.  _Never we have it. He always did have a personal vendetta against Shepard. He's never met the man or fought beside him, or even talked to him, so to a cursory eye, many might think he's hating for the sake of it. But I know this...man, and his reasons. He's an alien hater; I've seen how he kills humans compared to non-humans, and its alot less gruesome. His arguments are bitter, naive and rootless; and his hatred for Shepard stems from the fact that his lover is a quarian, his best friend is a turian, and the majority of his crew isn't even human._

Apart from that, the assassin made no response and merely waited expectantly for the next line of orders. With a nod, he turned back to look at Anadius, speaking as he did while his hand fumbled for a new cigar, "I want you to locate the Moori; its a Migrant Fleet vessel. Its currently left the fleet for routine resource collection, leaving it open for attack. I want you to take a ship, board the Moori, kill the crew and capture it."

Leng arched an eyebrow, or at least tried to with the lack of any, the black plates covering his eyes always seeming to bore into your skull, "What am I to do with a suit-rat ship? Its hardly worthy of becoming part of the great Cerberus Navy. Nothing but space junk."

"I don't intend to integrate it into our fleet," TIM deadpanned, placing a cigar between his lips and lighting it. Once done, he put the lighter way, puffed and took the cigar out, blowing out a cloud of smoke after it, "I want you to use it to infiltrate the Flotilla."

"Again?" Leng asked, sounding like a confused child.

"Yes,  _again_ ," TIM replied, trying to keep his irritation in place at the man's impudence, "This time, I want you to locate a ship called the Tonbay and board it. Then, locate a woman named Admiral Raan; she should be in the ship's captain's quarters. When you find her; kill her. Don't bother with dumping the body; just kill her and extract as quickly as possible; no slip ups. You'll have a team of some of our best hitmen going with you, so the ship's marine continegent shouldn't be a problem."

"I see," Leng replied, nodding as his hands fumbled the sheath on his back, a sadistic grin flashing across his face, "Any chance to kill some of that suit-rat filth is a chance I'm willing to enjoy. I will not fail."

"I know you won't. An elderly quarian admiral is hardly a match for a fully-trained N7 assassin," TIM stated, making it clear in his tone that failure would be grounds to not just heavy embarassment, but would result in Leng becoming 'sidelined.' Not that he would actually follow up on it; Leng was useful in his own way, and as much as he was a pariah to leadership, he was an excellent hand-to-hand combat specialist, and would be perfect for this job, especially with his enhanced cybernetics.

Leng nodded, bowed and left, his steps not graceful or fluid, just calculated, predicted and machine-like; one leg after another. TIM didn't even acknowledge the assassin's leave, merely turning back to his screen and letting a reflective sigh escape his lips as news that the Cerberus research ship full of adjutants had just left Athens Station and had progressed to enter the relay, heading to dock with Omega.

He leaned back and continued to watch. The War for Omega had begun, and he had planted the seed. Without further delay, he sent the message that would send Omega's mercenaries to war with Aria T'Loak.

**{Loading...}**

_November 1, 2185_

_1629 hours._

_Dock, Dyuko District, Omega._

_War for Omega, Battle of the Dyuko Docks._

_Sergeant Kahlee Thorn._

"What do you mean we're at war? We're mercenaries! Eclipse. Not soldiers!" One of Kahlee's men, an asari vanguard, shouted from behind her as her squad moved forward and towards the dock area where a Cerberus research vessel was currently docked. Behind her was two salarian engineers, five asari vanguards, and five human mercs, all of them in the renowned Eclipse armor, full helmets and with numerous weapons ranging from pistols to assault rifles.

Kahlee rolled her eyes, moving forward as she shouted back in reply, "Haven't you heard? Aria T'Loak slipped up and now we have the advantage! Fighting's erupted all over the station and we've got Aria's troops backed against a wall! Only a matter of time before Patriarch's back in control!" It hadn't been long ago when the fighting broke out, Kahlee remembered.

She had been on coffee break after a successful red sand smuggling operation on the Citadel, and had been about to watch the TV when her company captain came rushing in telling her that Omega was at war. Story was that Aria T'Loak, the ruler of Omega, asari badass and overall don't-fuck-with-me kind of person had let it slip that she had been keeping Patriarch, a nameless krogan warlord who had been ruler of Omega before Aria showed up and overthrew him, as a pet and that he was the only reason she had any rule over the station.

Later, a squad of Blood Pack warriors had ambushed Patriarch in an alleyway and killed him in cold-blood, paving the way for open rebellion. For the first time since the Rise of Archangel, the three mercenary groups of Omega joined forces to take down Aria T'Loak and overthrow her. Noone knew who'd take her place, but they knew she had to go. And without Patriarch, it wasn't long before the station's inhabitants rioted as well. So began the War for Omega.

The main bulk of her company was currently fighting alongside another company, this one Blue Suns, and a horde of Blood Pack vorcha, along with the ocassional merc from the Grim Skulls or other mercenary companies (the Talons had remained suspiciously quiet, especially considering that Nyreen Kandros was a known partner of Aria's), was fighting at Afterlife, fighting Gavorn and Anto, Aria's top lieutenants, and their men to try and take the headquarters of Omega from Aria, who, for some reason, had yet to make an appearence herself.

But it wasn't long before Afterlife's forces were overwhelmed and the club was taken, leaving the rest of Omega open for the taking. And in the midst of the chaos, her company captain had seen the opportunity to start taking whatever credits he could find, and a recently docked Cerberus research ship was just the kind of vessel that would have thousands of credits worth of technology and equipment. That, and Aria had been snogging Cerberus for far too long, letting them have free rein on the station, and that had to stop. They had to set an example.

Kahlee would prefer helping kill Aria's troops, more imporantly Anto for the smug bastard's treatment of her when she went to speak to Aria, but this was her job and she was getting paid to do it, so she couldn't complain.

"Doesn't make it a war!" the asari shouted back.

"Shut your trap, Mevlia," one human woman shouted back, "Who cares what its called? It gets us money, so who the fuck gives a shit what we call it? Call it a fucking circus, or a Council meeting if you want, but it all adds up to the cha-ching of credits flowing in my palms."

"Excellent point," one salarian spoke in a conforming tone, "We are mercs, afterall. Still thought we should have brought at least a pack of FENRIS mechs. Or a YMIR. We have no idea what Cerberus has packed inside that ship."

"Not that it'll matter," Kahlee mumbled, "I'd rather be kicking Aria's ass from Omega to Thessia. If only I could see her bloody face. I've never seen an asari cry before, to be honest."

They finally reached the airlock door at the end of the corridor, and through the grimy observation windows of the docking corridor they could see the form of the Cerberus research ship, the vessel looking like a converted freighter, plastered with gold and white colors and a few token logos, courtesy of the terrorist organization they now planned to piss on.

She raised her avenger and took the rear, letting her squad assume the usual positions; engineers at back, asari at front with biotics ready and humans in flanking positions around the room, while she shot from afar. She wouldn't call herself brave, or particularly cowardly; she was just a little...afraid of open fights.

"Open the door," she barked, watching as the closest human merc to the door palmed the interface and it slid open.

They were met by an empty corridor with the lights dimmed. She frowned, wondering if the ship had been abandoned when the war broke out, but that was unlikely. Her squad activated their flashlights and looked to her for leadership. She nodded, motioning for Victoria to lead the way and to give the all clear.

Just as she set a foot in the darkness, a loud, inhuman screech echoed through the ship, sending shivers through all of them as they tightened their grips on their weapons and scanned the corridor frantically, but Victoria just moved forward, ableit cautiously.

Another screech. This one closer. Followed by three in sync, then five, then twelve, then...oh god... _twenty._ Twenty-six. Thirty-nine. Fifty.  _Eighty-two._ They all rose in pitch, but Victoria, being the unintelligent ingrate she was, just kept going inside, like nothing was wrong, pretending to be brave and impress her squad as they all backed away, weapons raised, mutters of 'what the fuck is that?' and 'mummy' being heard. Kahlee inwardly screamed at herself to get her men to make a retreat to the safety of the hordes of mercs at Afterlife, but for some retarded reason, she stood her ground.

The screeches all sounded at once, in perfect sync, and they seemed to echo through her ears and body, blood freezing and heartbeat increasing as she heard it. So unhuman. Alien. Terrifying. Like a demonic yell promising a slow, painful and gruesome death. Kahlee knew something was coming, and it was going to fucking  _rip them apart._  The screeches were like a cacophony, now right infront of them and she could hear the sound of a horde stampeding across the deck hidden off to the right swarming forwards, the smell of  _fear_ driving them forward.

She finally regained her wits, "Victoria, get the fuck out! Fuck this ship! I want a steady fall back to After-"

A scream, this time right infront of them, and they raised weapons, only to watch as red blood gushed out from the darkness and painted the bulkhead to the left of the airlock, thick and runny as Victoria's mauled body was flung from the airlock to land in a crumpled heap before them. One of the asari squealed and leapt out of the way, biotics wavering slightly. Her human squad almost broke ranks before they began firing into the empty space of the airlock, desperately trying to fend off whatever abomination killed their comrade. And as Kahlee looked at the three massive, gashes along Victoria's chest, which had effectively skinned her face and left her guts spilling out of her chest, she herself...screamed.

She couldn't do this.  _Hell itself_ was coming for them!

A screech and she looked up to see Victoria's killer leap from the darkness, hurling towards one of her asari mercs that tried to raise her biotics to combat the massive beast. It was originally a turian's body, but had been heavily modified by cybernetics to the point of being unrecognizable. Two purple eyes glowed with a hunger, long scythe like claws flashing in the light as the creature hurled forward, gaze fixed on its prey. Its head was massive, with two, purple sacs hanging out of its head like a brain, a stem coming from the center.

The asari was helpless as the beast's immense strength, being twice the size of a krogan, overwhelmed her and forced her to the ground where she could only look on in horror and scream as tentacles erupted from the creatures mouth and its maw opened, revealing a set of sharp, needle like teeth, before sinking them into the asari's neck, feeding on her purple blood as the tentacles fed on her. Kahlee knew what she was looking at.  _Zombies. Cerberus has fucking zombies!_

Two more of the creatures emerged, followed by a few more, and no doubt, the entire horde was most likely arriving as well. Her team fled like frightened rats, firing pathetically behind them in a frail attempt to stem the tide of the coming swarm of demonic hellspawn. Kahlee inched away, but something caught her eye, and as she turned, she watched Victoria's corpse  _transform._

Her head expanded like air being pumped into a balloon and her small, delicate form grew, skin peeling away as muscles appeared, followed by the sound of beeping as cybernetics formed and latched on to major organs and areas. Her eyes shot open and glowed bright purple, and as Kahlee watched on, she saw one of her own men turn into...into...into one of those  _things_.

By the time she was finally leaving, the Victoria she once knew stood tall, glaring at her with murderous intent...now part of the hellspawn that had killed her. And as she looked on, the asari that beast had ravaged in the neck began to transform as well, and Kahlee quickly ran, not wanting to share their fate. She heard their footsweeps behind her and she just kept going, almost screaming in terror as she felt the corridor shake with the sheer intensity of the horde's approach.

By the time she reached Afterlife, her men were completely overrun and slaughtered by the zombies and she screamed for help, watching as the Blue Suns protecting the flank turned around, gasped in shock, and raised their weapons, opening fire.

The opening salvo ripped one of the creature's apart, only to have another leap ontop of its cadaver and use it as a jumping platform to land ontop of a Blue Suns turian, hand swiping down and taking the turian's head with it as it growled like an animal, turning towards its next victim only for a Blood Pack krogan to blow its head off with a shotgun. But the fall of two of the insane creatures did not stem the tide of their relentless assault.

They charged forth like an unstoppable stampede, the mercenaries unable to stop the coming tide. Gunfire slammed into them, but barely stopped it, and within seconds, the beasts slammed into the Blood Pack flank, ripping vorcha and krogan alike apart in their random attack, limbs and blood flying all over in geysers of red, orange, blue, purple and green mist. And Kahlee only kept running. She fled from hell. From the gates of death. The pariahs.

But they would not get her.

**"Wrex was a good bonus for our mission against the Broker. And, if I'm correct, that's the day the War for Omega began."**

**\- Tali'Shepard pav Rannoch.**

**"Correct. But none of us knew that. The only thing important to us was our conflict with the Broker and Cerberus; and the Broker committed the worst crime he could against me; he targetted my family."**

**\- Marcus Shepard.**

_**A/N:** _

_**Sorry for the late chapter and the cliffhanger; but the next chapter will focus alot more on the conflict on Omega, while staying as close to Mass Effect: Invasion's verision of the events as much as possible, with a few changes. Next chapter will start with a joint Aria-Petrovsky POV.** _


	18. Aim for the Head

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Aria tries to handle the deteriorating situation on Omega: an unlikely ally presents a solution to her problems. The Illusive Man has Leng assassinate an important friend of Shepard's.

**REQUIEM**

**CHAPTER SEVENTEEN:**

**AIM FOR THE HEAD**

_November 1, 2185_

_1640 hours._

_Aria's Quarters, Upper Afterlife, Dyuko District, Omega._

_War for Omega, Battle of the Dyuko District._

_Ruler of the Terminus Aria T'Loak._

Noone fucked with Aria; it was the one rule of Omega. Those who were smart followed that rule to the letter, while the not so smart...well, they learned quickly or just died...usually painfully. Aria wasn't a picky woman, but when she felt threatened, she knew how to bring down the hammer; troops and biotics.

Both of which she had plentiful of. She had an entire army of personal mercenaries under her belt, all lead by her most trusted lieutenants; Anto Korrogan, Preitor Gavorn, Grizz and Bray. That, and asari's natural affinty for biotics, and Aria was the most powerful bitch on the Omega space station. She ruled it; and anyone who dared to fight her were utterly destroyed. Aria remembered how there used to be forty-nine minor mercenary organizations on her space station, but now there was only forty-two. Shows that you don't fuck with Aria.

Many things had happened to Aria during her reign over Omega, pretty and not pretty. She had stopped an exchange of humans between the Blue Suns and the Collectors, which lead her to become aware of the Collector's involvement in the human colony abductions. She remembered Liara T'Soni approaching her a year ago for information on the whereabouts of Shepard's body.

She also remembered when she first landed on Omega, hundreds of years ago when the Patriarch had been in control of the asteroid. At first glance, she had been nothing but an innocent, horny, seductive asari stripper in Afterlife, but the entire time, she had been undercover, just waiting to strike.

Before her attack, she had planned for decades on how to take Omega from Patriarch, and had gathered up a massive mercenary army of her own to help her do it. And when the time came, she killed the owner of Afterlife, ceased control of the club and used it as a Forward Operating Base. And within days, Omega was hers. She spared the krogan, casting aside his old name and calling him Patriarch; a mocking title used by asari to those of the 'opposite sex' (Asari elders are called Matriarchs, but because the asari are monogendered but seen as feminine, they have no name for a male elder, but in the human language the male version is a 'Patriarch,' hence the title). She used him as an example to those who fucked with her, but in reality, she really liked Patriarch. He had balls.

But the most standoutish memory had to be when she met Nyreen Kandros, elusive mercenary of Omega's Talon mercenary group. Under their leader, the Talons were essentially the criminal of criminals, being highly disciplined mercs that would accept any client contract, no matter how gruesome, suicidal or sickening it might be. They had no moral compass or any rules, and they had become an enemy in Aria's book; they followed no rules, not even the one rule of Omega. They had raided her operations more than once, but because of Nyreen, she never reacted on it. Damn that turian. Luckily, the Talons were based solely on the station, which meant if Nyreen ever left, she could destroy them.

Nyreen Kandros.

She was a needle in a haystack when it came to the Talons. Unlike most Talon mercs who were non-military mercenaries with no morals and were extremely reckless, selfish and only acted on behalf of themselves and their ruthless leader, Nyreen was the disgustingly sick pinnacle of a paragade.

A shining beacon of hope, the turian envisioned herself as, or at least Aria thought she did. Nyreen was a turian female who had served in the turian military for the required five years before being kicked out due to the fact that she was a rare breed of turian that was equipped with biotic abilities; and a female at that. She was kind hearted and always wished to protect the innocent, almost like a justicar in her ways, but was deadly, efficient and just as ruthless on the battlefield as a Talon would be.

Why an ex-military biotic soldier, and a turian Cabal at that (which were elite turian biotic storm troopers), had joined the Talons, was beyond her, but Aria didn't much care when she met the turian woman. Nyreen always liked to wear a hoodie, which allowed her to pull a hood over her head, giving her the look of a mystique (that, and her morals and willingness to protect innocents while in a bad light with legal authorities lead many to call her the alien female incarnation of Batman). When they had first met, they had battled.

Aria won of course, but had spared Nyreen for the simple fact that she  _liked_ the turian. Afterwards, they both had a strained working relationship; Nyreen working with Aria for the sole purpose of helping each other. However, after awhile, they got used to each other and became friends, and then the unexpected happened.

Aria couldn't remember what happened, or how it lead to that, but it happened.

Aria and Nyreen had sex.

As was expected from such a melding, Aria became pregnant, naming the child Sata in Nyreen's absence, labelling the turian woman as the father...technically speaking. Aria demanded that Nyreen informed noone of the joining, and the turian kept her word, and they shared several more nights of passionate fucking, until eventually it stopped.

It became too much when Aria openly killed a crowd of civilians for the simple fact of being too 'noisy and annoying.' Nyreen had, to her chagrin, been present when it happened and they had argued, eventually leading to a falling out. By the time Aria finally gave birth to Sata, their relationship had fallen apart and they had not contacted each other since.

But Aria knew Nyreen was still around; working for the Talons, and most of all, on Omega. But to her surprise, the turian made no efforts to besiege her operations, and therefore, Aria had no reason to actively try and kill the ex-Cabal.  _Damn that woman and the feelings she invokes in me. At least I've still got Sata._ The asari was young, only being the age of 22, but for an asari, that was enough time to reach the size of a human adult. Sata had already taken to dancing, although Aria had forbade her from doing so in Afterlife, as she wasn't old enough. Sata had complained, but had stopped when Aria promised to let Gavorn give her lessons in weaponry.

Aria smiled many times at the thought of Sata continuing her legacy.  _When I die, which won't be for another four hundred years or so, my daughter will take over. Omega will be hers, and she'll be Omega. Sata T'Loak has a nice ring to it, now that I think about it._  However, relations had soured, even with her, after Nyreen had made the decision to drop in and inform Sata that she was her forgotten father. Sata had gotten angry and since then, the two of them barely talked. Not that Aria cared. Or did she?

Long had Aria ruled on Omega. Long had she been uncontested. Long had she sat on her sofa, effectively her throne, up in Upper Afterlife, leading the station. But now she was being overruled. She was being contested. And the enemy wished to dethrone her. She didn't know how they had suddenly gained the balls to fight her, but they had, and now all three of the major mercenary organizations were assaulting facilities all over Omega, attempting to overwhelm Aria's troops while also attacking Afterlife, trying to dethrone the asari ruler herself. Sata, luckily, was at a safe location, but that wouldn't last long.

It wasn't just them either. Minors like the Grim Skulls, Dark Raiders, The Primals and many others had united against her as well, and she could only be confused at how they had been able to gain the courage to actually launch an offensive of this scale, especially since it was  _mercenaries._

_Who's paying them to do this? What do they gain from overthrowing me?_

And to her irritation, the Talons were nowhere to be seen; they hid, as they always did. Nyreen was probably chuckling at the amusement of it all, for all she knew. But Aria didn't care, and as soon as Gavorn stormed in, she knew they were in trouble from the sound of gunfire and explosions outside that rocked the night club's foundations.

The turian looked like shit, to say the least. One of his shoulder plates had been blown off and blue blood caked numerous areas where bullets had penetrated his armor, and there was a slight limb to his step. One of his mandibles was clicked and hanging limply, and one eye was covered by a bandage, the bits of dried blue blood coated under the eye socket on his right. Hell, even his preferred sniper rifle, the M-97 Viper Marksman, looked all but shot to hell, covered in dust, scorch marks and one bullet seems to have lodged itself in the barrel, making the weapon completely useless.

"Aria!" Gavorn choked out, coughing as he winced from the pain coming from his useless left mandible, "...damn mercs are breaking through! I've ordered a full retreat into the club core; we'll try to use homefield advantage on them and the high ground. Anto's leading the rearguard, and as far as I know, Grizz is commanding the vanguard. Blue Suns have brought alot of firepower, and the Eclipse just reeled in two YMIRs! The Blood Pack have a heavy presence in their rear, and minor mercs are all over the place! We can't hold them without backup!"

Aria sighed, pushing her chair aside as she stood up, reaching into her white, leather jacket and pulling out two phalanx pistols, dual-wielding them in both hands as she motioned to the door, glowing in biotic blue, eyes alight with fury, "Well, you've just got it. I'm going to show these fuckers what the consequences of breaking the rule of Omega are."

Gavorn seemed invigorated by this, nodding his assent before limping away, only to stop at the door as he palmed it open, turning back to her, "Also, we found out why they're rebelling. They found out about Patriarch, and the Blood Pack killed him."

"They killed him...?" Aria stated, dumbfounded by the news.  _But how the hell did they find out? Noone knows how important Patriarch was to me except my top lieutenants, and they'd never betray me...fuck!_ Her eyes glowed with more fury at the words, "Then I shall find another Patriarch. Let them hope that their leaders do not survive, because I'm going to want to replace my krogan pet, and I crave many more."

Gavorn nodded his assent, moving up the stairs into the main club, followed by Aria, who quickly made it onto the main level. Aria was basically abandoned; the thumping, ear-pounding music that usually played was now completely absent, giving the club an eerily-silent feel. Even the asari dancers on the central stage were gone, with the club emptied of its inhabitants. She looked to the entrance to see her troops streaming inside, all assuming defensive positions all over the club. She watched as Anto, her batarian bodyguard, moved into the club in the midst of a dozen more of her mercs, yelling at them to assume positions. But Grizz and his troops were nowhere to be seen.

She moved up to Anto, the batarian turning to face her, "Where the fuck is Grizz and his men?"

Anto frowned, turning towards the entrance and scratching his head, "Damn it, he was just there! We sounded the retreat, and he kept the vanguard at the entrance to keep the mercs busy. By the time Gavorn's men fell back in line with mine, I could see Grizz sounding his own retreat! He should have been right behind us!"

She growled, spinning to face the entrance corridor to Afterlife. It was long and drawn out, with multiple sofas aligning its edges, and the walls simulated holographic flames burning, giving more credit to the club's title. And it was completely empty.

She growled a second time, spinning around to grab at Anto's arm, activating the batarian's omni-tool and bringing it to her mouth, pressing the contact button for Grizz, the turian bastard. However, the omni-tool just kept ringing, noone picking up. Getting angry, she pushed Anto away and prepared to storm the corridor to kill the mercs for killing her troops, but a loud bang stopped her.

She froze in place, eyes widening at the sound. Then the door shot open and a human woman, wearing Eclipse armor, rushed through the door, practically panting as she dropped her weapon and she just sprinted, seemingly unafraid or aware of Aria and her men that stood before her. And from what Aria saw behind her, the asari couldn't blame her.

Those mercenaries were now the least of her problems.

The Dyuko District swam in the blood of multiple species as an angry horde of creatures Aria had never seen before overwhelmed the united mercenaries from behind, the beasts tearing through them in uncountable numbers, the enemy unable to stem the tide. Blue Suns were ripped apart, Eclipse infected and transformed, and Blood Pack were tossed about like rag dolls; even the krogan stood little chance and quickly routed. There was no sign of the other minor mercenary troops.

She watched the form of Grizz, the turian's left leg now gone from the knee down, dragging a river of blue blood behind it. The ankle on his other leg was broken and twisted, forcing the turian to crawl across the ground to escape, weapon discarded. His entire back was shredded and caked in blue blood, skin plates torn completely off and revealing the tender muscle beneath, the turian's face a contortion of unbelievable agony. His neck was dripping blood from what looked to be a bite wound, and his eyes looked terrified and afraid, begging Aria for salvation as he dragged himself on, and Aria was almost sympathetic for the poor bastard.

But just like the rest of her men and her enemies, Grizz would not survive the creature's onslaught. Out of the horde, one the creatures leapt and landed just behind Grizz's crawling form, body towering over any krogan, body rippling with muscle and head bulging like a balloon, purple eyes glowing with malicious intent. Its claws were scythes, and it quickly made its way over to Grizz, the blood of salarians, krogan, vorcha, humans, asari and many other species dripping from its claws.

It grabbed one of Grizz's legs, the one with the broken ankle and began dragging him back outside, and Grizz could only scream, not in agony, but in desperation, in trepidation. He screamed and screamed, trying desperately to kick the massive abomination off of him, but was helpless as he was dragged into the slaughter house that was the Dyuko District. And just as the doors closed, Aria was forced to watch as the creature lunged forth, fangs beared, and ripped into Grizz's throat, his screams echoing through the asari's soul forever, scarring even  _her_.

"What...the...fuck," Gavorn stated with horror in tone, and he would have noticed Aria's frightened posture had he been a second faster. When he turned however, he saw the queen of Omega bristling with fury as she motioned her men to place explosives on the doors, fully knowing that the horde's immense strength would easily smash down the doors.

Anto looked at her with raised eyebrows, "What the hell are you doing, Aria!? You'll let them in! They'll slaughter us all! You saw what they did to those mercenaries and Grizz's team! They'll rip us to shreds! And you saw what was going on in the background...I am  _not_ turning into one of those fucking freaks!"

 _Like watching a fucking zombie movie, except its real. And the zombies are far more ugly. And terrifying. And_ _ **big**_ _. Where's Nyreen when you need her..._ All Aria knew right now is that the War for Omega was about to get worse if these things were spreading all over her station, and judging by their numbers, they definitely were.  _Great. Turns from a simple mercenary uprising to a fucking zombie apocalypse. Greatest day of my life. How the hell do you tell zombies not to fuck with you? They don't follow rules! And they're certainly afraid of nothing._

The men planting the charges finished planting them, but stopped halfway to the club main area when they heard the screaming and gunfire outside cease. Everything was silent for a few, painful minutes, before a loud bang echoed through the corridor, the sound of one of the freaks attempting to break down the blast doors. She motioned her men back and opened her omni-tool, pointing it at the door and opening it.

It did, and a  _living flood_ poured towards them, an army of demonic abominations rushing towards them with wicked intent, their only goal to consume every last one of Aria's men and Aria herself. But that would not happen. She ripped the detonator from Gavorn's limp fingers, the turian too busy shouting at his men to fire at the incoming horde, and Anto trying to maintain order as some of his soldiers tried to flee in fear.

She spared the swarm one last glance before she thumbed the detonation switch.

It was like she was deaf. A colossal boom rocked the entire club, almost knocking them all over in its intensity. It was only due to Aria's, and with a few other mercs, biotics that the explosion didn't send them all flying, but they weren't able to shield themselves from the bright light. They all winced at it, the bright light becoming a cloud of destructive fire as the explosion tore through the corridor of Afterlife and incinerated the massive horde that had been pouring through it.

One of the creature's had been leaping at Anto when the blast sounded, but Aria raised both her pistols at the beast's head and fired, its brains exploding in a mass of black liquid that coated their faces as the creature plopped to the ground, still moving despite it being paralyzed due to lack of brain commands. Aria stepped over it and fired into it a few more times, and it finally stopped moving. Then she looked up, examining the once proud corridor of Afterlife.

The explosion had not only vaporized every single one of the creatures trying to reach them (Aria didn't fool around when it came to explosives), but it had literally brought the entire corridor's ceiling down, leaving only rubble in its wake, blocking access to the club and stopping them from exiting. That must have really put a dent in the horde.  _Hard to believe that one of those fucking things was once Grizz and his men...not to mention all those poor bastards who were at the wrong place at the wrong time...fuck. Did I literally bring hell upon me?_

"We need to get out there and contain this situation," Aria declared, turning towards Anto who was currently holding the human eclipse woman in his grip. She squirmed in the batarian's grip, desperately trying to escape.

"What about her?" Anto asked, motioning to the woman in his arms.

"Kill her," Aria bluntly stated, "Its a mercy killing. Let her go and her fate is to be either ripped apart by or turned into one of those...husks." That's where she recognized them; she had seen husks before when the Collectors brought them to Omega. She knew what they looked like, and now an army of them were on her station, and they were much bigger.  _Collectors are wiped out so that means...fuck, so Shepard wasn't a crazy fuck. The Reapers_ _ **are**_ _real._

And they're attacking my station.

Anto snapped the human's neck and dumped her body on the ground, turning around and awaiting Aria's orders. Aria nodded to the merc and activated her omni-pad, trying to contact Bray, her other batarian lieutenant. Gavorn sat down, letting one of his medics tend to his injuries. With Grizz gone, she was going to be giving out a promotion.

It wasn't long before Bray's rough voice came over the omni-pad, "Aria? You calling for reinforcements or to be the reinforcements? I've got mercenaries all over me!"

"Fuck the mercs. We've got bigger problems," Aria growled, not at Bray, but at the whole situation before her. She motioned for everyone to follow her to the stairs leading to Lower Afterlife, where they'd then exit back to the surface.

"Bigger than mercenaries trying to take the station?" Bray deadpanned, obviously not convinced.

"How about a fucking zombie apocalypse?" Aria snapped, not liking the batarian's attitude as she reached the stairs and palmed the interface to the door to open, "Don't know where they came from, but they have; ripped the mercenaries at Afterlife apart and almost killed us if it weren't for the explosives I placed. There's a horde of them, Bray. Fucking hundreds. And they're not on our side or these mercs'."

"Well shit," Bray replied, sighing expaseratedly, "Well, we haven't encountered anything like that; I'll try and pinpoint where they're coming from. Me and my men are in the Tuhi District."

"Good, I'm also giving a promotion," Aria declared, running down the stairwell with Gavorn, Anto and his men moving down behind her, "Grizz was killed by these things and transformed; he might still be alive as one of those things, or dead as one of those things; point is, he's left a hole in the command structure, and I need it filled. Tell Moklan he's promoted to Grizz's position."

"Moklan?" Bray snapped, unable to believe he had heard that name put forward for promotion. Aria didn't like the batarian either, but this was desperate. This was Omega she could lose to this...horde, "Fuck. Fine, I'll tell him. Meanwhile, I'll try and find out the origin of these bloody zombies."

Aria nodded and deactivated her omni-tool, and she and her men stormed into the Lower Afterlife, which wasn't quite as empty as Upper. People hid under tables and many asari strippers and dancers had hidden behind the bar. The music, like upstairs, was absent, but the people certainly weren't; a few of her own mercs guarded the area and Aria motioned for them to follow her; civilians weren't any of her concern, only Omega.

She quickly recognized one batarian, Garka, and motioned for him to take point, while she assumed a position behind him, biotics glowing with anger. Gavorn limped behind the rest of the group while Anto was right behind Aria, ready to fight when the time came. Behind her was also Ahz, Jarral and Sanak.  _Never saw my love for batarians._

They took the back exit, moving down the corridor and her nose twitched, the stench of dead vorcha corpses littering the dimly lit corridor, the red light piecing together a rough picture. As she spun the corner to the left, they came face to face with five more vorcha, these ones not belonging to the Blood Pack, but wielding weapons nonetheless. One vorcha snarled and took aim with its Blood Pack Punisher SMG...

...only for Aria to wrap the creature in blue fury, her biotics effortlessly picking up the vorcha and tossing it into a wall, its broken form falling to the ground dead. She turned to the rest of her enemy and formed a biotic flare, firing it straight into the enemy's midst. Blue flame completely consumed the five of them, eating away at their bodies until nothing but puddles of red existed to prove their existence.

Aria, still bubbling with fury poured on, pistols raised and barking as more vorcha rounded the corner, this time flying Blood Pack banners. Her pistols coughed and death hit the vorcha charge up front, gunning them down in glorious fire. Her men also joined the fight, easily taking care of the animalistic animals. They continued through what had once been Kenn's workshop, up the stairs, and into the main market district.

Turning right, they saw a barracks had been set up, with Blue Suns with LMGs manning the front and an Eclipse YMIR mech providing support. Two eclipse salarians with omni-tools drawn stood next to it, holding them up, palm facing forward. Aria shouted at her men to aim and fire, but before either side could shoot, the same unnatural screech echoed through the corridor and screaming was heard.

Five of them came, leaping over the barricade like monkeys leaping through trees. One of them landed on a turian, pinning him to the ground, but before it could bite him, he rammed his LMG into its chest, and pulled the trigger. The animal screeched one final time before going limp as the turian whipped it across the face with the butt of his rifle, pushing it off the merc, letting him stand up. The YMIR's HMG powered up and prepared to tear into the beasts, but it was far too slow to stop their onslaught.

For mindless beasts, they were pretty smart. One flanked from behind the mech, while another leapt onto the YMIR's heavy machine gun, its momentum pushing the mech's weapon at the ground. Another leapt onto its optics and began pulling it left and right, screeching as it did. The fourth one helped the one flanking and ripped the YMIR's legs off, causing the mech to fall uselessly forwards. With a final yank, the creature on its optics ripped those optics off, tossing it aside and leaping off the wasted heavy mech.

One salarian managed to hit one of the beasts with an incineration protocol before another jumped in and closed its jaws around his neck, using its maw to tear his head clean off, spine and everything, dangling green blood all over the place as the beast gave one more chomp, swallowing his head before turning to face Aria, and snarling.

But the Blue Suns weren't finished and quickly joined Aria's assault on the enemy, pouring fire into the beast that had killed their salarian comrade. With only two left, they tried to rush Aria, only for said asari to raise both her pistols, aim at both and fire, a steady thump, thump, thump taking down both husks, and killing them. The Blue Suns didn't seem keen on being allies however, and raised their weapons to take aim at Aria's squad.

Only for her men to empty into them, taking them all down in a steady stream of molten bullets. She sighed, turning towards her men and nodding, before rushing forwards, leaping over the barricade and continuing on past Harrot's and the place where the batarian priest preached about human impurity. Her men followed closely behind, Gavorn catching up with Anto at her side, weapon drawn and ready to die for her.

They erupted into the main area to the left of Afterlife's entrance, which was now flooding with the Reaper minions. They must have had super hearing, because upon the door opening, their heads all snapped around...all  _thirty of them._

_Must have really wittled their numbers down. Now to just finish them off._

"Fire!" Came Bray's voice as his men arrived from behind her and opened fire, Aria quickly ordering her men to do the same as the horde charged.

Gunfire literally ripped into the flood of husks, tearing off arms, legs and heads in a desperate attempt to keep the monsters back. One of the abominations reached them and ripped the tentacles off of one of Bray's hanar mercs, before crushing the hanar with its foot, only to be blasted by a jet of flame from another merc's Firestorm flamethrower. Missiles shot into the horde and blew apart husks, while the others fired their assault rifles, pistols, shotguns and SMGs into them.

The battle, surprisingly, didn't last long. By the time the last weapon stopped firing, the entire swarm of husks had been killed. Black fluid coated the steel ground, with ripped off synthetic flesh lying on the ground, the bodies of multiple transformed husks laying, unmoving, eyes absent of their murderous, purple glow. Aria moved through the piles of dead bodies, emptying shots into any bodies that were still twitching. Her men did the same, Bray quickly catching up to her, Moklan in tow, with Gavorn and Anto staying behind to maintain the situation.

By the time they reached the area just outside Afterlife, they had cleared the dead husk horde and reached the bloodbath that had been the broken back of the mercenary assault on her club. Most of herself told her mind that they deserved it for fucking with her, but that small bit told her that noone deserved this kind of fate.

Blood flowed through the area, wet and dried, with multiple corpses laying there; all the ones that the husks didn't infect lay broken and battered, either with limps missing or just slashed. However, she quickly noticed the unmolested bodies were very few, and that the horde was probably bigger due to the fact that they had so many hosts to transform. It was a gruesome sight, and even Aria had a time not flinching at it.

"Give me a fucking location on that source so I can blow it straight to hell," Aria growled, spinning to face Bray, and ignoring Moklan's imploring gaze, "I've got enough shit to deal with already, I don't zombies too."

"Whatever you say Aria," Bray replied, standing firm, "Well, before I came to save your ass, I discovered that these...creatures, originated from that Cerberus research vessel that docked not too long ago; the one docked at the standard Dyuko Docking Bay, just behind us."

 _Where Shepard's ship usually docks._ Aria scowled, clenching her hands into fists.  _Cerberus. Should have known they'd be behind this. Those fuckers will pay for trying to overwhelm my station. I already kicked their ass once already, I can do it again. No fucking problem._

"I'll deal with this ship myself," Aria snarled, turning to Moklan, "Bring your men with me. I'm going to blow that ship right into Athame's embrace."

Moklan nodded, barking at his men to follow his lead as Aria stomped into the docking bay corridor, baring noticing the mutilated eclipse cadavers littering it, her gaze focused solely on the wide open airlock leading into the Cerberus starship. Looking through the grimy windows, she could see their eyesore of a logo glaring back at her.  _Should never have trusted the fucking Illusive Man. Nothing good comes from faceless assholes._

She stormed into the ship's airlock, suddenly met by pure darkness. With a violent shake of her head, she lit up with biotics, which illuminated the entire area, allowing her to move further inside and see where she was going. She expected to see the corpses of Cerberus personnel, but she saw nothing, which only strengthened what she thought.  _Cerberus did this intentionally. But why the fuck would they infect Omega if they want to take it? Come to think of it, why would they want it anyway? To a bunch of human supremacists, Omega is nothing but a slum asteroid. Nothing of value. Fuck! Wish I could understand strategy..._

She marched into the cockpit to find it also empty, not to mention that it looked an awful lot like a Kowloon-Class freighter's cockpit. She moved over to the captain's chair on the right and pressed a few buttons, activating the ship's self-destruct while simultaneously moving over to the ship's pilot interface, setting a course for a destination far away from Omega. With a satisfied grin on her face, she marched out of the cockpit and got through the airlock just in time to watch it slide shut and for the Cerberus vessel to lift out of the dock and fly away, thrusters flashing with light as it acellerated away fron the station. With Moklan and his men in tow, they marched back towards Afterlife's main entrance, which was still blocked off.

Aria looked into the distance and saw Omega's skyline; and it was filled with gunfire and explosions, one skyscraper having actually toppled over and crashed into another, with flames completely consuming another. The inhabitants of Omega were tearing each other apart, and her own men being overwhelmed by the three most infamous mercenary factions of the galaxy, and for what? What did they hope to achieve? To overthrow her?

_I've done good to Omega. They don't fuck with me, and they can do what they want; why is that so much to fucking ask? But no more, everyone wants more, and they all come to me. What would Patriarch have done? What would Nyreen do?_

Nyreen would have you surrender to protect the people of Omega. To protect Sata who, for all she knew, still alive and hiding. Patriarch would have used the bulk of his forces to strike at the heart of the three merc organizations and crush their leadership, break the bone of their morale. That was the old krogan's style; to decapitate the enemy before they can form adequate resistance. But Patriarch was dead; murdered by the Blood Pack. And Nyreen was nowhere to be seen, either dead or hiding.

_Nyreen's a smart girl. She'll bide her time. Can't believe I miss that cunt. Where the fuck are the Talons? Maybe they're helping the mercenaries fight me? Wouldn't surprise me. But why would they suddenly care about politics? The Talons are lawless; they don't follow anyone but their leader, and their leader follows their clients. And they'd never accept a political, warmonger client. That puts the Talons out of the picture._

"Aria ma'am," Gavorn coughed, causing the asari's attention to be dragged away from the sight of Omega burning in the distance and to the scarred turian. He had seen better days, for sure. And to think, all he used to do was control the local vorcha population; 'pest control' he called it. And now he was one of her military commanders, go figure, "We've found your daughter and she's currently deep in an area occupied by our forces."

"Good," Aria didn't sigh in relief, but she wanted to.  _At least Sata's safe._ But it seems Gavorn wasn't finished.

"Also, Bray has detected a large force of mercenary gunships heading our way, all flying Eclipse and Blue Suns colors. They've also detected a sizable force of troops moving in for a second assault on Afterlife, this one consisting of three thousand combined forces; more than enough to utterly outnumber us."

Aria cursed and leaned on the railing, eyes drifting to the empty streets below; empty streets that would soon be teeming with enemy troops; Blood Pack krogan, Blue Suns turians, and Eclipse asari. This day just couldn't fucking finish fast enough. She turned back to Gavorn, "Then assemble your men, Bray's, Anto's and Moklan's into defensive formations around Afterlife and the lower districts; I hope to secure them in a bottleneck. You can have numbers, but it amounts to nothing in close combat."

"And what of the gunship support? Lets not forget the mechs the Eclipse use to bolster their soldiers," Gavorn convened, "They'll just blow holes in our defenses, not to mention wittle done our ammo. It'll take a considerable amount just to take down one gunship; we'll need enough to deal with two whole squadrons, an unknown amount of LOKIs, FENRIS' and YMIRs and the rest of the enemy force. Aria, we just don't have the resources or troops to hold this position. We need to link up with the rest of our strength if we want to be able to mount a better defense. Not to mention they'll have mechs and gunships as well."

She jabbed a finger in Gavorn's face, before also pointing at Afterlife, "I. Will. Not. Surrender. This. Place. Afterlife is the source of my power! If it falls, so does my power! I need to show these fuckers that my home does not fall easily!"

"Afterlife will fall!" Gavorn insisted against his own wits, "Only death will be given to us if we stay here! We don't have the firepower or troop numbers to hold this position! Your men are not asari commandos or justicars! These are mercenaries, and we're facing the three most distiniguishable mercenary factions in the galaxy! They  _will_ overwhelm us and Afterlife  _will_ fall. We either fall back, or die. Either way, Afterlife is theirs."

Aria, in a fit of rage and denial, headbutted Gavorn, causing him to stumble backwards in pain as her head impacted his clipped mandible, issuing a loud yelp of agony from his jaws, "Fuck you! I hate it when you're fucking right! Argggghhhh!" Her biotics glowed and she became smashing everything in sight, unable to contain her rage before she finally stopped at the edge of the railing, biotics lessening.  _Afterlife. My home. And I'm about to abandon it because I have no choice._

Gavorn was still yelping in pain when Bray ran to her side, face looking worried. She stood up, turning to face him with a weary look. She knew what the batarian would say, and as much as she was reluctant to say it, there was no choice. Retreat was all the options they had, "Issue a full retreat back to the bunker I set up in the Tuhi District on D-Deck. We'll-"

"Its not that Aria!" Bray exclaimed, and it had to be important if he was cutting  _her_ off, "You know that Cerberus ship you just blew up? Well another one just arrived through the relay!"

She widened her eyes and was suddenly walking away, "Take me to Omega Control, ASAP. How long until it gets here?"

"Five minutes," Bray stated, both of them getting into a skycar and heading straight for Omega Control; yes, even Omega had a control station to monitor traffic, but that's not all it was for. It monitored the relay, the mining facilities and even the station's ancient defenses. Aria just watched Omega's skyline disappear as they rose, eventually reaching the tip of Omega's spherical dome structure; home to Omega Control itself which, to her luck, was still under the occupation of her forces.

It didn't take long for Bray to find a parking spot outside the control center and both of them exited it, heading inside at a rushed pace. The doors slid open to reveal a rather spacious area; Omega Control was much like the station's main structure in shape; a sort of semi-spherical shape. There were three levels to the area, all accessible by stairs running up the middle, and all containing terminals and platforms with numerous batarians, turians, asari and humans under her employ working at them, with the main viewscreen at the front of the room, large enough to cover the entire wall, which was ten meters high and seven in width.

Aria moved past Bray and addressed the person in command on the viewscreen controls, "Get me a visual on that research vessel."

The turian nodded, typing at a fast pace with his six talons and soon the viewscreen dimmed and lit up again, giving them a view of the space around Omega, which was largely one huge asteroid field. The Sahrabarik relay was far too small to see at this distance, and was only a blue dot on the horizon, but they could clearly see the form of another Cerberus research vessel heading towards them; no doubt filled with more of those uber-husk creatures. She could only look at it in disgust and fear.  _Just one has a horde...my men can't repel another...the rebels tried that, and looked how that turned out; all slaughtered to fatten the already huge swarm. We need to blow that thing right out of fucking space._

"Can you reactivate Omega's defenses?" Aria growled, turning to the batarian in charge of maintaining Omega's ancient defense grid.

The batarian blinked and then nodded, "Well...theoretically, yes. But this grid hasn't been used for five hundred years! No telling if it might just die on us or explode when it fires! Hell, I don't even know if they're loaded!"

"Then we'll find out!" Aria roared, pointing at the approaching vessel, "Activate the defenses and take that ship down!"

The batarian mumbled to himself and began activating the AAA cannons that acted as Omega's defenses; ancient was definitely the right word, as these weapons dated before the quarian exile from Rannoch, and just five hundred years after the Krogan Rebellions, not to mention they were older than the Patriarch's rule over Omega. She wouldn't be surprised if they stopped working.

The view on the viewscreen changed to that of the cannon's POV, with it rotating to face the incoming vessel, which was now too close for comfort. From its peripheral vision, four other cannons stood on the platform this one was planted on, but were inactive. And Aria knew why. Only one cannon would be needed to take down this ship, because this cannon wasn't just any AAA weapon. It was krogan-designed; based on technology originally present in the old Krogan Empire before its desolation in the Rebellions.

She watched as the cannon locked onto the enemy vessel and fired; to their surprise. The cannon seemed to rock from the force of the shot and they all watched as a streak of molten metal seemed to rocket across space. Due to the fact the ship was already close to the station, the shot was point-blank, guaranteeing an instant-kill. The shot tore through its shields like they weren't there and impacted the belly of the vessel, the impact punching right through and gutting the ship, before completely severing it in half, explosions tearing through its frame.

Aria watched in smug attention as the ship broke apart and died, the threat to Omega now over, allowing her to face the mercenary forces on the station. But just as she was turning around, the asari managing relay surveillance called out, "Aria! I'm picking up intense activity at the relay! Multiple ships are pouring through!"

Aria's smug smile fell from her face as she marched back to her previous position as the viewscreen switched to a surveillance camera orbitting the Sahrabarik Relay. She was forced to watch as the relay pulsed with energy and the rings spun at hyper-speed, two streaks of light representing the arrival of new vessels. It was another Cerberus research ship. Followed by another. And another. And another. And another.

Five Cerberus research ships had exited the relay and five ships were now making best speed towards Omega, this time acellerating harder than the other one did, and they would arrive in two minutes. In the time it took for the cannons to rotate, they'd be too late to stop them.

"Fuck!" Aria cussed, turning to the room, "We need to-"

"Aria, new contact on the relay!" the asari cried out, frowning, "But...ma'am, its dreadnought sized."

Aria practically rolled her eyes, "Who the fuck cares? If its a dreadnought, then its a pariah to these fucking things! We cannot let them land on Omega!"

Aria's triumphant smile glistened once more...

...only to disappear again as the dreadnought came through the relay. It was an Alliance Killmanjaro-Class Dreadnought, but it definitely wasn't flying Alliance banners. The name 'Elbrus' was written in bold writing on the side, and the entire ship was covered in the gold and white of Cerberus. And from what she could see, this ship was  _bristling_ with enough weaponry to lay waste to half of Omega; one MAC, dozens of GARDIAN batteries, even more pulse lasers, rotary guns, high-powered tungsten cannons like that of Omega but less powerful, and strong enough barriers to hold off a barrage from a fleet of Aria's ships.  _The zombies weren't enough, were they Illusive Man? Now you send a fucking dreadnought!_

"We can't fight that kind of firepower!" Bray exclaimed as the Elbrus made a sharp turn and made straight for Omega, bringing it in the rear of the five research ships, obviously protecting them. Aria watched from Omega's cannons' view as the Cerberus dreadnought brought its weapons to bear, ready to unleash hell on them if they decided to fire on its ships again...

...only for a stream of missiles to dance from its hull, tearing into the nearest research vessel, bypassing its shields and blowing apart its hull like it was made of paper. Aria, Bray and all the people of Omega Control just watched in astonishment as the Cerberus dreadnought, seemingly their doom, turned on their own abominations and ripped the ships apart. It was all over in seconds; the dreadnought having completely torn apart the five research ships, their debris melding with the asteroid field. When that was all done, the Elbrus seemed to just sit there, its captain seemingly watching them...daring them to fire on it...

_What the fuck do they want..._

"Aria?" Bray called again, interrupting her thoughts, making her realize he had been asking her something. She scowled at him, trying to seem less complacent than she actually was.

"What?"

"The Cerberus ship is hailing us," Bray informed her, "The captain of the dreadnought is requesting to speak with you specifically."

Aria hesitantly nodded, turning to stand in the center of the room, facing the viewscreen. She nodded to Bray, who immediately relayed the connection, and the words 'connecting...' popped up on the screen, replacing the view of Omega's asteroid field.

In a couple of seconds, the link was established and the face of a human male popped up on screen. He wasn't young, that was for sure; he had brown, cropped hair and a heavy beard, all connected to an equally bushy moustache. His eyebrows were close to forming a monobrow, and his face was squarish and gaunt. He had a large forehead, with alot of muscle under his gold and white uniform, the bars of a General on his left breast, the Cerberus insignia on his right. Another man stood behind him, who wore the same uniform, but with the bars of a Colonel, and he was definitely younger, with a more rounded face, smoother features, no facial hair save a large amount of raven black hair on his head, and a large chin. This man seemed to sneer at Aria, making her think of the more racist of Cerberus' members. But the captain didn't seem to sneer at all; his expression was neutral actually, with his eyes looking professionally at her own and his hands clasped behind his back.

"Aria T'Loak," the man spoke in an accent that could only be russian mixed with a hint of North American, "A pleasure to meet the ruler of the Terminus Systems and Pirate Queen of Omega herself."

"Fuck your formalities. Cerberus has alot to answer for, especially for what just fucking happened, so lets cut to the chase," Aria growled, shoving a finger in his direction, but the general seemed completely unfazed by the gesture, with the man in the back looking like he was desperately trying to hold back a chuckle, "Who the fuck are you and why should I trust you?"

"Straight into trust now are we?" The man in the back asked rhetorically, finally letting himself chuckle, "Wow, she seems to immediately assume we're here to help her. Not that we're not, but she is quick to judge."

"Indeed," the captain responded, but, without even turning to the sneering man, continued, "But you better keep your lips closed, Colonel. My patience can leap boundaries, but that doesn't mean my temper can do the same."

"Of course General," the man apologized, snapping into a more formal posture, "Sorry General."

Without a response or even acknowledging his subordinate's apology, he looked at Aria, "I am General Oleg Petrovsky of the Cerberus Military, Admiral of the Cerberus First Fleet and Captain of the Cerberus Assault Warship Elbrus. This," he motioned to the man behind him, "Is Colonel Raymond Ashe of the Cerberus Military and Commander of the 3rd Regiment of the Cerberus Army. We come with apologies from the Illusive Man."

"Tell him to go shove it," Aria growled, "I want to know what the fuck he wants with my station."

"Absolutely nothing," Petrovsky replied, still unfazed, "Omega has little value to Cerberus."

"Then why the fuck did techno zombies, from a Cerberus ship, start flooding into my station and slaughter my people and my men?"

Petrovsky inhaled and exhaled quietly and rapidly, "Ah yes, I see you've fought our Adjutants. An experiment gone wrong, nothing else. We lost contact with one our facilities in the Phoenix Massing Cluster, so the Illusive Man sent us to investigate. We discovered that the facility had been making Reaper husks controllable by Cerberus named 'Adjutants', but they got out of control. They overran the station, boarded whatever Cerberus transports they could and used them to head through the Sahrabarik relay, where they then proceeded to attack the nearest population that promised them victims..."

"Omega," Aria finished for him, "And let me guess, you just happened to arrive in time?"  _Pretty fucking conveinient that he just happens to show up at the same time we're about to be overrun...and why would the Illusive Man send a dreadnought on an investigation mission? Not to mention a General and a Colonel? Yet again, they did just destroy their own transports...fuck! What the hell do they want?_

"That we did," Petrovsky replied a matter-of-factly, "And a good thing too; we must contain this outbreak before our experiment kills more lives; we can't allow them to spread. What we've created is very potent, and cannot be allowed to escape. Just one adjutant is enough to cause an entire infestation. For now, and to our luck, they seem to be soley focused on infecting Omega for some reason; we're guessing due to the proximity."

" _To your luck?_ " Aria snarled, "They murdered my men!"

"Better your men than those of Palaven. Or Earth. Or Sur'Kesh. Or Thessia. If its contained on Omega, it won't go anywhere else, correct?" the general finished, his logic uncounterable. She mumbled her assent, which seemed enough to the Cerberus officer, who immediately continued, "This will not be the last of the adjutants, I'm afraid. More research ships are on their way, and will soon arrive. We predict their ships to number well past forty."

Aria blinked in surprise, "Forty? Fucking forty? How many of those damn 'adjutants' did you bloody create?"

"We planned for an army against the Reapers. We got it," Ashe replied instead, obviously uncomfortable with talking to Aria. Petrvosky nodded agreement.

"Except this army is mindless. Out of control," the general explained, "The Illusive Man wanted an army of husks under his control to combat the Reapers, but these adjutants only follow Reaper command signals, and despite our best attempts to scramble them, the Reapers always break through. They are far beyond our comprehension," with a sigh, Petrovsky finished, "In the end, you cannot stop this invasion alone; the adjutants will board your station, one way or another, and they will infect every living thing they can find. Omega will be their hive. It is in the Illusive Man's, and yours, to work together."

_Work together...?_

_After what just fucking happened!?_

"Work together? Us?" Aria asked incredulously, breaking down into laughter.

Ashe and Petrovsky didn't seem amused however, and neither did any of Aria's men for that matter, who just looked at her as if she was crazy.

Aria looked at Bray, her laughter dying, "You're not fucking serious! You actually want to work with this guy?"

Bray swallowed, "T'Loak, this is a Cerberus dreadnought offering support against an invasion by floods of zombies intent on transforming us all. We're not at liberty or in the comfortable zone to be rejecting their offer. We either work with them, or we die."

Aria had no way to refute that, and Petrovsky just seemed to be waiting for an answer.  _What have I to lose? Of course, one dreadnought won't stop an entire armada of forty ships...I'll need to call upon my fleet...but can I even trust Cerberus? What if this is some kind of trap? Some elaborate plan to snatch Omega out of my hands when I'm not looking? But again, why would the Illusive Man waste precious resources on making zombies only to blow them up in an elaborate scheme? I have to trust this man. Trust him. I must. I will not lose Omega. Omega is my home. I_ _ **am**_ _Omega._

"Very well," Aria declared, looking at Petrovsky with not a defeated pose, but more a determined one, "I accept the offer. We'll join forces. But one dreadnought won't be able to stop an armada of that size from reaching Omega; they might even board your ship, and then we're all fucked. I'll assemble my fleet to aid you."

"Thank you Aria," Petrovsky answered, turning to Ashe. The Colonel whispered something in his ear, to which the General nodded, turning back to Aria, "We also request permission to send a shuttle to Omega, with myself and Colonel Ashe on it, along with a small squad of my personal guard. Consider it a...parley of sorts."

"Parley?" Aria asked incredulously, "The fuck is a parley?"

"A human sentiment you wouldn't understand," Ashe butted in, "Suffice to say, we merely want to talk, face to face, no games, no hostilities. Both sides are free to bring guards if they wish to feel safer that way, but we merely wish to assess the situation. If the adjutants do, somehow, reach the station, Cerberus wants to be able to deploy troops to bolster yours."

Aria shot a glare at the Colonel, deciding she already didn't like this asshole.  _He'll soon learn to respect me, pathetic little human cunt. Can't believe I'm allied with Cerberus. But hey, if Shepard can do it, why can't I?_

"I shall meet you outside of Afterlife," Aria informed them, looking at Bray and nodding, "Bray will send you the coordinates for the dock you'll land at. I look forward to meeting in person."

"It shall be invigorating, I'm sure," Petrovsky replied in what she was sure was a sarcastic tone, "We shall meet soon."

"Just one more thing," Aria held up a finger, one question coming to mind, "Why can't we just mine the relay?"

"It would take too much time," Petrovsky replied instantly, "Plus, my ship simply isn't equipped for minedropping. Also, any civilian ships that accidentally come through would be destroyed, causing unnecessary death. Best to keep our defense moderated and controllable."

Aria nodded, ableit reluctantly, "Fine. Seems logical enough. We shall meet soon."

"Elbrus out," Petrovsky announced, before his face disappeared from screen.

Aria sighed, nodding for Bray to take her back to the skycar, using her omni-tool to contact Anto and have him come up to Omega Control where he can keep everything in check. With that message sent, she deactivated her omni-tool and entered the skycar, this time driving instead of Bray, who sat beside her, weapons holstered. She glared out the windscreen, as if daring someone to attack her.

It seemed the tables for the War for Omega had just turned.

**{Loading...}**

_November 1, 2185_

_1748 hours._

_Entrance to Afterlife, Dyuko District, Omega._

_War for Omega._

_General Oleg Petrovsky, Colonel Raymond Ashe._

The only thought that went through General Petrovsky's mind as the Cerberus Kodiak shuttle approached Aria's designated docking bay is that Omega was a very unimpressive space station. Sure, it was definitely a feat of engineering and construction skill that the asari were able to build a space station of his size on an asteroid and keep it from floating away, but that had been when it was an asari station. Now it was a criminal haven; of little likability to anyone who wasn't some crime boss or drug dealer.

Colonel Ashe sat across from him, his posture straightened and professional, but Petrovsky had long learned to read people's face; he could see the disgust, the prejudice; the absolute revulsion at the thought of having to speak to an alien. The man was unimpressed with aliens as Petrovsky was with his reputation.  _He's a loose cannon, if what the Illusive Man has told me is correct. Willing to endanger lives if it means the continuation of human ones, or for his own self-preservation. Hardly command material, but he has gotten results in the past. A pity he had to be assigned to the Elbrus. His racial prejudice could cause problems. Would have been better if he had just stayed at Athens._

Petrovsky turned from the irritated colonel and looked at the squad of soldiers next to him. Gone were Cerberus' trademark commandos; incompetent soldiers who had once been guns-for-hire and couldn't pull a trigger worth a damn. Idiots who were too undisciplined to be of any consequence. Gone were the unarmoured technicians with only an omni-tool and a pistol to protect them, as incompetent as their commando comrades. And gone was their incompetent sergeant, who couldn't lead his squad if his life depended on it.

Now they were upgraded. In place of the commandos sat assault troopers in bulky full-body armor, gold and white colors covering their bulk and a full-head helmet hiding their features, with only glowing red slits for eyes. The armor was thick and heavy looking, but with the cybernetics the soldiers were implanted with, they easily carried it. They held numerous rifles and SMGs at their sides, all looking blankly at the wall before them.  _Mindless, but their incompetence is gone. They are now professional, tactically-aware and flawless. The perfect soldiers._

Gone was the two technicians, now replaced by two combat engineers in medium armor that wasn't quiet as thick, bulky or large as the armor of assault troopers, and had a black undersuit with golden-white armor plating fitted all around. Their helmets also hid their faces, but instead of two glowing red eye slits, there was one large, golden visor, reaching from cheek to cheek across their helmet. They were armed with a single M-5 phalanx pistol on their hip, and their omni-tool was their key weapon. Usually they'd have a turret fitted on their back and ready for deployment, but that was hardly necessary for a parley.

Gone was the sergeant, now replaced by a centurion. This soldier's armor was even bulkier and larger than that of the normal assault trooper, with a larger helmet and armor, but overall had the same design as the assault trooper, ableit with a slight darker color and more strength. They also wielded more accurate weapons, needing them to compensate for their slowness in battle.

Overall, Cerberus' military structure had gotten a complete overall, and Petrovsky wouldn't be looking a gift horse in the mouth. One day, he might have been an Alliance patriot, but they had untied the rope, and Cerberus and picked it back up and promised never to untie it again. Now the General was not only supreme commander of a large portion of Cerberus' forces, but he also had command of an entire fleet, his flagship was the pride of the Cerberus armada and he would soon rule over Omega, protecting its citizens in a way he could never do in the Alliance.

It would not end well for Aria T'Loak.

Oblivious to the asari, the adjutants weren't completely absent. Deep down in the depths of the Elbrus was at least five adjutants, ready to unleash on Aria when he got the chance. All he had to do was find a reason for Aria to board the Elbrus so that he could unleash them on her. With Aria out of the picture, that would leave Omega ripe for the taking.

And if anything, Petrovsky was a master manipulator.

"Sir," one of the assault troopers piloting the shuttle shouted. The man's voice was croaky and heavily synthetic coming through his helmet's radio. It was so artificial that it sounded almost inhuman, "ETA five seconds to dock. And we've got company."

Petrovsky nodded, "Then let us not seem the hostile type. Show them how accomodating we can be."  _Right before we unleash the blood hound. And she doesn't even know that the entire First Fleet and an army of forty thousand troops is ready to pour through that relay and pluck the station right from her hands. Aria's always been a ruthless one, but she never was a tactician. This victory will be so quick and seemless, she won't have seen it coming._

True to his word, the pilot landed the shuttle with a thump in the dock and the hatch unlatched, and opened. With a metallic sigh, the Cerberus soldiers, lead by their centurion, got up without a moment's pause, as machine-like as humanly possible, and moved out of the hatch, Petrovsky and Ashe not far behind.  _Mindless indeed. They have no emotions and no morals; they follow commands like a master plucks the strings of a puppet. And I am plucking the strings._

They moved through the airlock and down the corridor, with Petrovsky and Ashe in the middle, surrounded by a full squad of assault troopers and centurions. All that firepower, and it would all amount to nothing if Aria and her men attacked.  _Their one fatal flaw; none of them are biotic capable. Most of my biotics are back on Athens Station. Its of no matter though; my lack of biotics will just make tricking Aria all the more easier._

With a calmness only possible in a fearless man, Petrovsky just edged on, Ashe still sneering all the way through.  _Can the man not lose his disgust for more than one second? Its a wonder he hasn't managed to declare war on Thessia yet. A detriment to the mission, but one I can handle. I have dealt with looser cannons than him._

They turned a sharp right and arrived outside Afterlife, who's main entrance was currently covered by rubble with flames licking at the sides. As he looked on, holes laddened the sides of the buildings, bits of rubble and dust falling out of them. He sniffed and was immediately repulsed by the smell, his nose twitching.  _A repulsive place, but easily fixable. Once I have control of Omega, I will use Afterlife as my headquarters. Easily defensible position, and the building is large enough to install a war room and command center, not to mention a holding pen for any of my perfected adjutants._

His 'perfected' adjutants being the ones he could actually control.  _Not the rampant ones the Illusive Man decided to unleash on Omega. A risky plan, but it can work. Its severely hampered Aria's forces, at least._

Aria was easily noticed; the asari's extravagant choice of clothing easily stood out amongst her men who wore mismatched and potmarked armor and some without armor at all, simply wearing ragged clothes with mediocre weapons at their sides.  _This is my foe. Not one I should underestimate, by any stretch. Hitler underestimated the Red Army, and the Russians crushed him like a foot does an ant on the ground. I must tread lightly. And keep Ashe's mouth in line before it runs us into death's jaws._

"Aria," Petrovsky greeted, holding his hands up. The troopers infront of him split in the center, allowing him to pass through and stand at the front, revealing himself to Aria. If the asari had snipers in place, they had a perfect chance to take their shot.  _Let her feel like I've got nothing to hide, especially when I have everything to hide. Let her feel secure. That's when a viper strikes hardest; when the prey is unsuspecting._

Aria looked umimpressed by his entrance; not that he was looking to be complimented. She wore a white leather jacket and straight jeans, with multiple tattooes all over her blue face, along with a drip on her lower lip. She glared at him with eyes that seemed to bore into his skull like a demon, and her arms were held at her side like some disciplined marine. The men around her were mostly batarians, but some of them were turians, asari, humans and even a few krogan. She wasn't racially exclusive, that was for sure.  _Almost as racially diverse as Shepard._

"General Petrovsky," Aria spat, looking at him with a demeaning glare, "I thought you'd be taller."

"It would seem all our expectations are meeting dead ends today," Petrovsky replied, which earned himself a glare from the asari pirate, "But that doesn't mean we need to sour our meeting with talks of expectations. My expectation is that its your own best interests to defend this station, and that means you'll work alongside me, whether you like it or not. I have to say, I don't like working with pirates and criminals either, but its within my best interests."

"Coming from a Cerberus general, that makes me cry with laughter," Aria replied in tandem with one of the batarian's crossing his arms. Aria pointed to one of the dead corpses at her feet; the form of the mutilated adjutant completely riddled with bullets, black fluid oozing from bullet wounds and limps missing. She kicked it with her foot, "Now, how the fuck do we defeat these bloody 'adjutants?' I've encountered husks, but these are an entirely different world of fucked up."

"To put it less colorfully, yes, indeed they are," Petrovsky replied, moving past his men, with Ashe in tow and moving to approach the beast, only for one batarian to stop him with a scowl, avenger assault rifle bumping against the general's chest. He matched the batarian's glare with a unfazed gaze, but this didn't whether or reassure the batarian at all. Finally, Aria called out.

"Let him through Bray," Aria ordered, "Let him look at his Cerberus play thing."

Petrovsky nodded and Bray, reluctantly, stepped aside, letting the general past. Ashe followed, shooting the batarian an equally poisonous glare, before Petrovsky arrived at the dead adjutant's side. He was surprised to see its head still attached.  _You'd think common sense would dictate decapitating them. Obviously they haven't thought along that line of reasoning._ With a heavy exhale of breath, Petrovsky turned to Ashe and nodded, the man chuckling at Aria's incompetence in the matter.  _Can't let the adjutants come up and revive their brethren._

Ashe moved forward, a smug grin still plastered on his face as he extended the omni-blade on his left wrist. The smile on his face would have been charming to most women, although most didn't know Ashe as Petrovsky did.  _Opportunistic. Idealistic. Ruthless. He'd sooner stab a woman's eyes out than lie with them._ Ashe stood next to the adjutant, obviously a transformed turian, and brought his omni-blade arm up, swinging downwards in one fell swoop.

A geyser of black erupted from the Adjutant's severed head and its lonely neck, head rolling away. A few gasps sounded behind him, followed by angered growls while Ashe looked thoroughly pleased with himself. Petrovsky looked at the body with the same, unamused glance he addressed everything else.  _Life leaves little time for personal amusement. Morals are an obstacle, and defeat a waste of time._

"What the fuck are you doing!?" The batarian named Bray exclaimed.

"Decapitating adjutants," Ashe deadpanned, grin dropping as he more professionally added, "Adjutants are never just dead. Adjutants can be revived by other adjutants, and if another horde somehow boarded the station...well, you've got enough to supply a supermarket. You might as well be handing them victory on a silver platter."

"Fair enough," Aria replied, crossing her arms, "Could have at least done it more...respectfully and less like you're enjoying it. That was one of my men once; his name was Grizz. Watched the poor fuck get dragged away and his throat ripped open. He was a dickhead, but he was a loyal dickhead. Didn't deserve that fate."

Petrovsky arched an eyebrow.  _Was able to recognize one of her own men despite the mutation._   _She also shows a tremendous amount of care for her own men. We share something in common then; maybe we're not all that different._ Petrovsky may be Cerberus, but he cared for the men under his command, and would never risk their lives unnecessarily. Only by necessity. Only when victory was demanded, not requested. Petrovsky and Aria at least shared one quality.

"All these corpses need to be decapitated," Petrovsky dictated, breaking the awkward silence, "They are a risk if being kept unmolested. We must either burn their bodies or cut off their heads. My men will proceed to do this."

"As will hers," Ashe spoke up, causing all heads to snap to him, including Aria's. Oblivious to Aria's glare, "We can't do this on our own; far too many bodies. We need to do this quickly before they can have time to land," he turned to Bray, "You, start arranging these bodies into a pile, and you," he pointed to Gavorn, "Start readying fires to burn these bodies-"

"These are  _my_ men, asshole," Aria growled, Ashe having obviously trotted on dangerous territory, " _They_ are  _mine_. They will follow  _my_ orders! So you can fuck right off!" Aria took a step forward, anger flashing in her stance, biotics wrapping her form in liquid blue flames that licked across her body.

Ashe looked unfazed, raising an eyebrow at her with a unamused glare, "I don't give a shit who leads them, Aria. Only that they follow my orders; you see, the difference between pirates and soldiers is that soldiers have disicipline, and pirates are idiots. Idiots need discipline, and I offer it. Follow my lead, or just fuck off, Aria."

She didn't back down, moving with inches of the man's face, her breath coming off in waves on Ashe's smooth face, "Watch where you step, bitch. I will make you wish you never stepped on Omega. Your place here is a courtesy, and I will only allow it for as long as you don't piss me off. And trust me, Omega's first rule covers that quite well; don't  _fuck_ with Aria..." Her words were pure venom.

Petrovsky surveyed Ashe's actions and knew what he would say.  _Its all part of the plan. I understand why someone as racist as Ashe would be needed; easier for him to piss off the wrong people. Now, we just have to hope the Illusive Man's info is right..._

Ashe grinned smugly, "I wouldn't fuck an alien Aria, so you can be calm on that account. Besides, why should you care which of your dickhead crew I lead around? They're all simpletons! I'm just doing you a favor! Now, if you can please back off, your men require orders..."

Aria's biotics intensified and a ghost of ever own smug grin crossed her features, "I was kinda hoping you'd push it, asshole. Fuck you."

The asari's hand suddenly latched around Ashe's throat and began choking him. Ashe lunged out with his omni-blade arm, but she blocked it easily with a biotic barrier. Snarling like a rabid varren, she let go of his throat and threw him through the air like a rag doll, the man's form slamming into the ground seven meters away. Still growling, she turned to Petrovsky. He simply rolled his eyes, expressing his dislike at Ashe's actions.  _She hasn't killed him yet, which means..._

Aria turned to Bray, "Get this fuckwit out of my sight," she turned to Petrovsky, "I don't care who he is; if the Illusive Man wants to work with me, then he'll have to deal with one simple compromise," she shoved a finger at Ashe's form, who was now being dragged to his feet by a krogan and a turian pirate, "That asshole is to stay locked up until this crisis is over. Once I have Omega back, he can go free, but I will not have him leading  _my_ men! Those are my terms Petrovsky; take them or get the fuck off my station!"

"Very well," Petrovsky replied, face neutral.  _Perfect. She's fallen for it, now I just need to lure her away from Omega and her men._

Aria nodded, turning to both of her men holding Ashe, who spat at the krogan's feet with a disgusted look, "Take him and lock him up somewhere. I don't care where, just somewhere. Don't kill him though; we'll release him when this is over."

They both nodded and they dragged Ashe away, who shot Petrovsky one last look. Noone noticed as Petrovsky nodded, and Ashe let a grin creep across his face before letting it drop, pretending to struggle once more. The general turned away from the colonel and turned to Aria, who had his back turned to him, "However Aria, there must be a compromise for a compromise. If you must imprison Ashe, you must do something in return for me."

Aria narrowed her eyes at him, but gave an understanding nod, crossing her arms as she did, "What kind of compromise?"

"You have taken Ashe under your custody," Petrovsky replied, "Only fair we do the same with one of your men."

Aria raised an eyebrow, "Who?"

Petrovsky was treading dangerously, and he licked his lips, "You."

Aria eyes narrowed into slits at that, and her men immediately brought their weapons to bare at Petrovsky. The general's own men weren't far away, and he heard the click of multiple weapons behind him, the centurion taking point with the two combat engineers at the back, and the assault troopers forming a ring around them.

Aria stepped forward, hesitantly, eyes locked with his, "And why is that? I can hardly lead my troops if I'm imprisoned."

Petrovsky shook his head, "I am not imprisoning you Aria, just as much as you're not imprisoning the Colonel, just...incarcerating him temporarily. I simply believe that having you on the Elbrus with me will help you coordinate your forces better. It can be your flagship, as well as mine. I will make sure all of Cerberus' resources are at your disposal."

Aria nodded slowly before asking the obvious question, "And if I refuse?"

Petrovsky sighed, "Then I take the Elbrus and leave, and you can deal with the adjutants yourself. We both know you won't last."

Aria sighed heavily, nodding as if already aware of the answer and just asked the question for a sense of finality. Her arms fell to her side with a thump, "Fucking fine. I guess I'll go to the Elbrus with you. But no funny business Petrovsky; I don't like being yanked around."

"Indeed," Petrovsky then proceeded to motion to the dock where his kodiak was docked, "So, shall we leave? The Adjutants wait for noone, and their fleet will soon be upon us. We must act quickly if they are to be stopped."

"Right," Aria then proceeded to move past him, through his squad of troopers, and moved towards the airlock. Before she reached it however, she stopped, turned around and shouted to her batarian lieutenant, "Bray! Inform Anto that he is in command while I am gone!"

"Yes Aria," Bray shouted back, and Aria continued, moving towards the airlock, with Petrovsky and his Cerberus squad in tow, and Aria's men quickly cleared out, with the Cerberus general watching Aria's back as she obliviously walked into his trap.

_The time isn't ripe enough yet. Soon the trap will be sprung, and Omega will fall into our hands. I assured the Illusive Man victory, and he will get it._

It was only a matter of time.

**{Loading...}**

_November 3, 2185_

_0822 hours._

_Main Bridge, Killmanjaro-Class Dreadnought SSV Orizaba HA-2, Haskins System, Titan Nebula, In FTL inbound for Jarrahe Station._

_Fleet Admiral Viktoriya Arefyev, Captain Hannah Rila Shepard, Commander Phillipo Coniglione._

The SSV Orizaba silently approached Jarrahe Station, an abandoned Cerberus facility, at a high speed, and Hannah Shepard could only wonder why they were wasting time on such a task. A task better suited to a wolf pack of frigates, or even a single cruiser. Why did they have to send a dreadnought? It just made no sense. What they should be doing is following up on those rumors about Omega, or doing patrols over Noveria. Why the hell would they be sent over here?

 _Makes no sense. But whatever the admiral says, goes._ Hannah felt her gaze drifting from the viewscreen from her position in the captain's chair and looked at the fleet admiral, who stood to the right, hands clasped behind her back and eyes looking straight ahead, occasionally barking orders at Hannah for the captain to relay to her crew.

Not far down sat her XO, Phillip, who seemed to shoot the admiral disrespectful looks every once and a while.  _Can't exactly reprimand him for it; I despise Arefyev as well. Wish I commanded the McKinley, or the Logan...at least Hackett and Singh are more accomodating and less of a hardass._ Hannah grimaced as another thought came up.  _And Hackett doesn't think my son's crazy..._

The thought of her son hurt her, wondering where in the galaxy he was now. With his quarian girlfriend, on his state of the art warship, trying to rally the races of the galaxy to fight a threat they failed to recognize.  _I gave him the Orizaba; but is one dreadnought enough against the might of the Reapers? How can we even hope to stop such power?_

The captain shook those thoughts away very quickly.  _I have to hope in my son...otherwise, who will? Noone stands by him but his crew. His loyal crew. And Tali. The sweet girl...I saw the way she looked at him, and how he looked at her...young love. She'll keep him together...she has to. The galaxy needs him if we ever hope to survive the coming storm. I just hope he treats her right..._ She smiled at the thought of Tali and Marcus together, and it made her happy. She didn't care if she was quarian; her son had found someone to make him happy and be with, and she was more than happy to welcome her in. Perhaps, she would even welcome her in as a Shepard one day... _I can only hope._

Meanwhile, Hannah just kept watching as the form of the dead Jarrahe Station kept getting larger and larger. Apparently Arefyev had received word from Naval Command on Arcturus that they had detected a Cerberus presence in the Haskins System, and had immediately assumed they were reinhabiting Jarrahe Station. And now here they were, a dreadnought dealing with a rumored Cerberus incursion.

 _You're looking in the wrong place for a Cerberus incursion, if you ask me..._ but it was hardly within Hannah's rights to deny Admiral Arefyev's orders. Sometimes life in the military sucked, and many times she had thought of retiring, but thoughts of her late husband William came into her mind, and of her son. If she wasn't on the bridge, she would have shed tears at the thought of William, missing her husband immensely. But she was on duty, and couldn't show weakness in the face of that duty.

Not having realized it, she was surprised when her navigator informed her they were docking with Jarrahe. Hannah shook her head and looked at the viewscreen, seeing that the Orizaba was indeed docking; the gold and white exterior of the station staring back at them non-commitantly. She sighed and nodded to Phillip, who had asked if she was already, while Arefyev made no noise, not particularly liking Hannah after her meeting with her son.  _She had the audacity to say I was a 'bad mother.' She's lucky I'm her subordinate, or I would have belted her for saying that. I am the best damn mother in the galaxy if I made a son like that._

By the time the ship shuddered from the impact of the station's docking clamps latching onto the Orizaba, one of the ship's marine squads was already at the airlock and ready for combat. Arefyev had sure the team was filled with the best of the best their dreadnought lead, and had one of her personal N7 guard take command of the team. With an N7 in command, the mission would be clean and smooth, with Cerberus troops not being too bright or competent. A clean fight, in other words.

Hannah inhaled as she reached for the cup of coffee laying on the arm of her chair and she took a sip from the searing hot cup, enjoying the feel of the hot liquid dripping down her throat. She gently lay the cup back down on her seat and picked up a datapad from her seat, going over the information. Oblivious to the admiral, Phillip and herself had taken the time to research as much as they could on anything remotely Reaper related. What they had found was very interesting.

In 2163, a batarian survey team had been surveying the planet of Jartar, located in the Dis System of the Hades Gamma cluster, when they found something mysterious in a massive crater. It was described as the remains of a genetically engineered starship that had been completely torn in half on one side, and resembled a cephlopod in shape. The batarians put its date at billions of years old and it had been dead for a very long time. The batarians termed it the Leviathan of Dis.

Not long after however, a batarian dreadnought entered the system and a few days later, the Leviathan of Dis mysteriously vanished. The Hegemony began denying its existence, saying it was just another hoax. When shown documentation of its discovery by the STG, the batarians became angry and accused of the Council of trying to villainize them, causing Hannah to laugh. But the descriptions fit those of Sovereign at the Battle of the Citadel, which meant the batarians had, or still were, in possession of a Reaper corpse. What they were doing with it, was unknown. But it was likely that their hopes at defeating them lay with the Leviathan of Dis.

Research conjured up from Sovereign's main gun, now known as the 'Thanix Cannon' (Thanix in the turian language meant 'horror'). It is described as being a 'magnetohydrodynamic' cannon with a yield of 132 to 450 kilotons of TNT, which easily dwarfes the main gun of an Alliance Everest-Class Dreadnought. Overall, if the rest of the Reapers possessed firepower like Sovereign, the galaxy's fleets weren't going to last very long.

As Hannah read the datapad, the ship shook with an external explosion and alarms began to blare all over the colossal vessel. Hannah shot to her feet and Arefyev looked extremely alarmed, turning to face the door, predator pistol raised. Hannah drew her own predator sidearm, also aiming at the door while Phillipo followed suit behind her. She inched towards the door and opened it, immediately aiming at the airlock.

An explosion and torn through the airlock and killed half of the marine squad. Burnt corpses lay on the ground, armor either blown open or they simply died from broken limbs or bones. Only four marines survived, with the N7 leading them, pointing her N7 Crusader roaring into the airlock door, with a human scream following suit.

"Keep them pinned!" the N7 soldier roared, "Keep them bloody pinned! Nobody gets through!"

The marines reacted in tandem, controlled fire bursts filing into the doorway one by one. Hannah risked moving outside in her unarmoured state, pistol raised. She knew the basic combat from what Marcus had taught her, but she wasn't a marine, and she was most likely going to get herself killed. But her curiosity was taking over.  _How the hell is Cerberus kicking our ass? I thought they were incompetent..._

Just as she moved to peek out the doorway, she heard the N7 grunt. She turned around to see the woman having barely blocked a katana blade swipe with her crusader shotgun, the weapon cutting her shotgun clean in half and forcing the N7 to strafe to the side to avoid the blade. Hannah saw that the blade wielder wore the gold and white of Cerberus, with full body light armor, even with a full-head helmet, complete with two eye slits for eyes to see through, both glowing red. She was female, and her only weapon was a katana sword, and a palm like device on her hand. The N7 blocked the rest of her blows and kicks, but the way she moved...she was like a ninja!  _Faster_ than a ninja!  _How the hell did Cerberus make their commandos into_ _ **that?**_

Even the N7 was getting winded now and finally a break allowed the Cerberus soldier to break through her defense and land a kick between her legs, causing the N7 to howl and double over. The soldier followed up with a knee to the N7's armoured chest, and then a knee to her head to force her backwards where she then rammed her sword into the N7's gut.

Red blood blew forth and coated the soldier's blade, but she was unable to pull out as the N7 grabbed her by the throat and pulled her closer, ripping her helmet off and letting her ginger hair flow, red blood trickling past her lips as she coughed. Her voice was a snarl, "The fuck...do you...think...you're going?" A smile came to her face, and she raised her hand to reveal a primed incendiary grenade, "We're not...finished...with...intro-...ductions!"

The soldier with the blade tried to wriggle free, but she was too late. The fire grenade detonated, enveloping them in searing hot flames. The N7 was screamed for but a second before she was incinerated, but the soldier with the blade wasn't so lucky. The blade flew from her hands, landing at Hannah's feet, and she seemed to dance spastically as she tried to pat down the flames, but she didn't seem to scream, almost like she was...incapable of feeling pain.

She then crumbled down to the ground dead, as if the puppet master and just dropped the strings of its puppet and let it plop to the ground, discarded. Flames still licked here and there, but it was obvious that the hostile was dead. But the battle was far from over.

Another marine fell dead from a sniper round to the head, his face splitting open like a melon. Hannah was sure she saw a flicker of light run past and towards her, and upon reflex, she picked up the blade next to her and thrusted it into the area where she saw the distortion.

She was met with the blade going through a meaty substance, and the sound of blade penetreating flesh. Bingo. She watched the tactical cloak of her assailant drop, revealing the form of yet another of Cerberus' surprises. It was a woman, again, wearing what looked to be a gold, white and black skin-tight full-body catsuit, complete with armoured areas. She wore a mask around her face, with the only distinquishable feature being a single, red circle on the right side of her face, obviously meant as a scope enhancer or eye piece. The woman was curvy, and certainly didn't come off as a warrior, but the human-made M-13 Raptor Sniper Rifle in her hands.

Despite the blade wedged in her stomach, the Cerberus sniper seemed intent on continuing to fight, and to Hannah's amazement, managed to raise her rifle to Hannah's face before the captain raised her own, bypassed her shields and fired point blank into the woman's face, leaving a nice lumpy fragment of meat for a face. The sniper went limp and Hannah pulled the sword out, letting the body fall limp to the ground.

When she looked up, she saw that only two marines were left, and they had retreated slightly. She watched a heavily armoured trooper exit the airlock wielding a mattock heavy rifle. He wore a bandolier of smoke grenades on his chest, along with a transmission pack on his back to boost transmissions in combat to bypass jamming. Behind him, more heavily armoured troops, ableit with smaller armor, no backpack and no bandoliers, and only armed with avengers and vindicators, filed out, taking positions behind him to reinforce him, followed by a lightly armoured engineer, with a box like unit on his back.

The Cerberus troops began to push against the outnumbered marines, oblivious to the crew behind them, as was the combat engineer, apparently. She watched as he grabbed the box from his back and deployed it on the ground, standing back up, accessing his omni-tool and playing around with it. The human captain frowned at the movement...

...only to watch as the gold and white box transformed; three legs extending from under it and lifting it up, to where a 'shield' of sorts extended from to the left, followed by a barrel extending from the front. The engineer kneeled behind the shield, using it as cover. Hannah blinked in surprise. Within moments, it had turned from a featureless box to a fully portable turret.  _Cerberus has definitely taken a technological leap...where did all this come from?_

An idea forming in her mind, Hannah wielded the sword and quietly approached the engineer from behind, raising a finger to her lips to signal Arefyev and Phillip to be silent. The gunfire before them became background noise as she approached, stopping just behind the engineer without him even noticing. She raised the blade above her, and prepared to strike.

The engineer heard the sound of her inhaling and unholstered his phalanx, spinning around with surprisingly reaction speed, but it wasn't enough to save him. Her blade came down, stabbing straight through the scalp. The blade exited through his throat, a great gush of red blood erupting from the top of his head and, most notably, from his throat, staining Hannah's uniform and drenching her officer's bars.

Letting go of the blade and pushing the engineer's dead corpse to the side, she quickly retrieved his phalanx pistol and hid behind the shield of the turret, which for now was simply rotating, scanning the corridor ahead of it, trying to locate enemy IFFs to fire at. With a laugh, she raised her own omni-tool and began to hack into the Cerberus turret.  _Would you believe William was an engineer? Pretty coincidental. Just so happens I need those skills...glad I listened...and remembered..._

With seconds, she had hacked into the turret and changed its coding to attack Cerberus IFFs. She stole a peek, watching the massive trooper infront raising his mattock rifle to aim at the face of the last marine, who lay on the ground, bleeding. A shot fired, and the marine slumped to the ground, dead. She watched with smugness as the Cerberus squad turned around...

...and was met by a wall of death as the turret's gun spun up with a loud whir, akin to that of a minigun, and fired.

By the time they scrambled, the turret had done its job. Apparently these soldiers lacked the common sense to utilize kinetic barriers, so the bullets tore into them, piecemeal. Blood flew through the air like confetti, bodies crumbling to the ground as the weapon seemed to just take them down, one by one.

The leader deployed a smoke grenade, letting his shields, as apparently he was the only one smart enough to use them, absorb the turret's fire as he dove for cover. The smoke that filled the corridor barely deterred the turret however, as its programming had it switching to infrared in a second, easily seeing through the smoke screen and firing on the lone soldier's position. Survivors of the assault moaned in pain on the ground, while others crawled across the ground for weapons, but that quickly stopped when the bridge crew arrived, dispatching the survivors with pistol shots.

One crewman had his head blown apart by a mattock rifle as the Cerberus commander bull rushed their position, firing a stream of fire to keep them pinned, but a turret had no such worries. It immediately opened fire, the soldier's recharged shields barely shrugging off the attack before failing and a shot tore into his kneecap; but the soldier limped on, not even taking the time to acknowledge the injury before falling into cover, giving him time to recharge his shields again.

But Hannah would have none of it. And as soon as he peeked out again, her phalanx raised and joined the fire of that of the turret, both of them ripping into the helpless trooper. Before he could leap into cover again, his shields crackled and burst, and Hannah lowered her sights...

BOOM!

The blood seemed to sparkle as it glided through the space, the entire right of the soldier's face getting blown off mid combat roll, causing him to stumble in the roll, snap his neck at the velocity of the impact and slide into the wall, dead. Bits of muscle and bone illuminated the destroyed side of the soldier's face, but as Hannah looked closer, she could see the telltale signs of cybernetics. The soldier moved to stand again, causing everyone to gasp in confusion. Were these people even human anymore?

Arefyev was having none of it and emptied the entire clip of her pistol into the commander's face, downing him once and for all. Hannah just stood there, half her uniform drenched in red blood, phalanx hanging limply in her grip.  _This is not how I imagined my day turning out..._

One of the crewman deactivated the rotating turret and Phillip just frowned at the sight of all the dead marines and Cerberus soldiers, "What the hell just happened? When did Cerberus become this powerful? They've gone from hiring mercenaries with Cerberus coloured armor to...to..."

"Cybernetic supersoldiers," Hannah replied for him, turning to face a disgruntled Arefyev, "This attack came far too quickly for them not to expect us. They literally attacked us the moment we  _docked._  This was a trap; they lured us here."

Arefyev waved a dismissive hand, "What does it matter now?"

"Don't you think its a little coincidental that Cerberus want my son dead?" Hannah asked, suddenly realizing the gravity of this situation, "And I just happen to be on the ship the Alliance send to investigate a station full of supersoldiers ready to attack said ship the moment it arrives, and just happen to fly Cerberus colors? Way beyond coincidence."

"You're saying this entire attack was just so they could kill you?" Arefyev asked disbelievingly.

"That's exactly what I'm saying," Hannah stated, pointing to the entrance to the bridge, "We're getting out of here before Cerberus reinforcements arrive. And just to piss Cerberus off, lets send a MAC round right up this station's ass."

The tactical officer grinned as the whole crew snapped a salute, save the fleet admiral, "Aye aye ma'am," they then rushed off to their duties.

Arefyev shot her a disapproving look, "This is all your fault."

Hannah shook her head dejectedly, "No, its not my fault," she looked at her one final time before leaving for the bridge, "Its Cerberus' fault."

_Give them hell son. Send Cerberus back to the stone age and kill those fuckers._

**{Loading...}**

_November 3, 2185_

_0836 hours._

_Admiral's Quarters, Paramount-Class Heavy Cruiser QMFV Tonbay, Migrant Fleet, Enoch System, Rosetta Nebula._

_Admiral Shala'Raan vas Tonbay, Prime Prayer Byp'Raan vas Tonbay._

"Shala, are you even listening to me?"

Shala'Raan didn't know what to do with herself. All of the recent events had hit her with the force of a MOAB, and she just couldn't take it anymore. First the attempts against Tali's life, and now the Rayya had been attacked by Shadow Broker and Cerberus agents alike, leaving dozens of civilians dead. As a result, marine security on all of the liveships was doubled, and the passcodes updated for all pilgrims. A complete change had to be made to ensure an attack like this couldn't be made again. Two times had the Migrant Fleet been attacked. Not again, the admiralty board and the conclave swore.

As a result, the Admiralty Board was working over time. Every single one of them had a fleet to keep safe, with Xen having the lightest of the payload. Gerrel didn't have to worry as much, as the Heavy Fleet was a military strongpoint in the Flotilla, being marine presence in that area was markedably strong anyway. Koris had the hardest job of all and Shala was left to clean up the Patrol Fleet. And Gerrel had the entire fleet to worry about until that damn Chief Admiral could be found.  _Should have reopened voting by now..._

The reports were less than great. Multiple captains in the Patrol fleet were panicking, suddenly scared out of their wits by Cerberus' bold move on a liveship, making them think twice about protocol, almost to the point where they refused to let any ships dock out of fear that they would all spontaneously be killed by an enemy force. Shala had her work cut out for her just trying to handle the situation; now she rarely saw her husband anymore, even at night time, choosing to just sleep at her desk.

_Damn you Rael...why did you have to go off and die? Tali needed you, and the Flotilla needs you now more than ever. Gerrel is handling it well, but he's no political figure like you. He's a marine to the bones and you? A marine with a role in politics. You would have sorted this out by now. But no, you had to get yourself killed, idiotic bosh'tet..._

She ripped her eyes from the glowing terminal before her and gave her husband a cursory glare, obviously not in the mood to have an argument with Byp of all people.  _Poor man...goes out of his way to make sure I've got company, and then I completely ignore him...damn you Rael...damn the Conclave..._

She let her glare melt, knowing the man didn't deserve it, "I'm sorry, Byp. But this work has got me tongue-tied and ear-shut. I hate being an admiral sometimes."

She knew through his body language and the narrowing of his eyes that he was smiling warmly. Some part of her yearned to see his unmasked smile, and to feel his skin against hers, but she kept those urges in check as he spoke, stretching her back, "Life, I admit, was alot easier when you were just a captain."

"And better," Shala mused, rubbing the sides of her helmet, "No politics involved except for the occassional formation order from the original Patrol Fleet Admiral. Just the ship, my crew, and you."

"How sweet," Byp teased, moving to sit on the desk just beside her and placing a hand on her bicep, "You know, if you get too tired, just let me know and I'll be at your side. You shouldn't work yourself so hard."

"Its my job, Byp," Shala replied, placing her left hand on his leg and squeezing it, "I can't just drop it when it gets too hard. And as much as cuddling in bed sounds good to me, I really can't afford the time. And you really shouldn't have taken the day off just to be with me."

Byp shrugged, "I'm sure they won't mind. Besides, you shouldn't be left alone to your work. You might never come to bed, and that would scare me more than anything. You know how much better I sleep when you're there beside me."

Shala smiled warmly behind her mask and cupped his cheek, stroking it with one thumb. Byp was a Prime Prayer, which meant he was the chief prayer of the ship. Every Wednesday, every quarian would halt their duties to come to the main trading deck where they would forsake a few hours to congregate, socialize and, of course, read a few entries from the Scroll of the Ancestors, along with a few prayers. Byp was the one who reignited Shala's belief in the ancestors, and now she attended every function. It was how they came to be; married and happily together. Or as happy as one could, being constantly seperated from each other by their important roles.

They sat there for a few more seconds before Shala's terminal beeped, a communication coming from the decontamination bay. She sighed, turning away from Byp reluctantly, who looked annoyed at the interruption, having finally distracted his wife from her work. She laughed internally at that, having foiled his plans for her. That smile dropped as her hand reached for the terminal...

The ship rocked and an explosion seemed to tear through the vessel, shocking Shala into shooting up and Byp instinctively standing infront of her, in that typical male fashion. She tapped him on the shoulder, causing him to turn around.

"Send for a marine squad," Shala ordered, "Have them to sent to my quarters. I think I know who they're after." It didn't take a genius to know who was attacking, or who they were after. If Cerberus wanted to kill Shepard and Tali, they'd first aim for those connected to them, and Shala was the only quarian family the girl had left. She didn't tell Byp this, or otherwise he would never leave her side. But she didn't want him in harm's way; she wouldn't watch him die...she had seen what it was like to have your spouse die; she had seen it first hand as Rael squeezed Meru's dying hand...that was the first and last time Shala had ever seen the man weep.

She couldn't stand to watch Byp die. She loved him, and wouldn't watch her husband die. If she had to die to ensure that happened, so be it.

"Right," Byp immediately rushed for the door, hitting the haptic interface, watching the door shoot open. Before he could disappear around the corner however, Shala found herself shouting for him to stop. He spun around and faced her, waiting. She didn't want to give her intentions away, but she wanted a proper goodbye. She didn't want their lives together to end with her silent corpse.

"I love you," Shala stated, trying to sound loving and caring, while holding back tears and trying not to shake. This would be the last time she heard Byp's voice, or saw him. She would never kiss him, cuddle him, touch him or make love to him ever again. She would die alone, with him far away...but safe, she convinced herself. Instead, her voice was soothing, loving and full of tenderness.

Byp smiled warmly behind his mask, "I love you too, Shala. You mean alot to me. Now you keep your head down, and I'll be right back with the cavalry, honey. Even an admiral has to learn stop means stop." And with that, Byp gave one final amused salute, sprinting down the hallway, as if everything would be okay. Shala sniffed and finally let out a sob.  _And all he'll find is a corpse...but at least I got to tell him how much he means to me before I die..._

She held no delusions about her fate. Cerberus was a dangerous foe, and this time there was no Commander Shepard or Normandy crew to come in time to rescue her. And she knew that if their first assault failed, they were only trying again because they were more prepared and far better equipped. They would be on her before she could formulate any kind of resistance. She opened the drawer and considered pulling out the carnifex pistol in there to fight one last battle, but thought better against it.  _I'm not a soldier; I won't go out in a blaze of glory; I'll die a feeble old woman._

She stood there, arms hung limply at her sides for what seemed an eternity, staring blankly at the door. Finally, the door shot open, revealing a black armoured form walking inside, a large, cruel grin on his face. Behind him came three soldiers with Raptor sniper rifles and black armoured catsuits, with their faces covered by a one optic full-head helmet and were all visibly female. They all wore Cerberus' insignias, but it was the man before her that caught her attention.

He had a mop of raven black hair on top of his head, with a almost frown like face. His armour was jet black, but looked thicker than that of the snipers behind him, but still flexible. He had no visible weapons save the thin blade in his hand and what looked to be a palm-like device, but she wasn't even sure the latter was a weapon.  _A sword? Are humans this primitive?_

"You must be Admiral Raan," the man stated with sadistic glee, obviously enjoying the idea of killing someone.  _Just the sort that Cerberus would hire, of course._ However the line was also delivered with such emotionless bluntness that she couldn't tell if he was loving the moment or not, "My name is Kai Leng. I'm here to kill you."

"Of course you are," Shala replied with a glare, "You're Cerberus."

"I wasn't asking you to talk back suit-rat," the man spat, and the three behind him nodded in agreement, with Kai Leng walking right up infront of her, face inches from hers. She saw a hand move up, and for a second she thought he would grope something on her body, but he just grabbed the bottom of her chin and thrusted it upwards to look him in the eyes, "Look me in the eyes and tell me what you see."

"I see a Cerberus scumbag," Shala growled, "I see one more dead man on a spike after Shepard is done with your organization."

Leng spat on her mask, the saliva obscuring her vision, the man obviously loving to toy with his victims before killing them, which might be Shala's boon.  _If Byp gets more time to bring in the troops,_ "Shepard will be dealt with in due time; and I will enjoy killing him and bring his head and that of his precious quarian slut to the Illusive Man's front door, but they're time is not ripe yet. Yours however, is." Shala snarled when he mentioned decapitating Tali, but the man gave no indication of caring.

He turned away from her and then swung his blade at her neck, only to stop a mere inch from it, "Usually you'd be dead by now. But I take special time with suit-rat scum like you. I would enjoy watching your fleet burn over Rannoch as you foolishly try to retake it, but it feels much better to do the killing myself," he leaned in and smiled, "Maybe I'll ram this ship into one of these liveships I here are  _so_ important."

Shala gave no indication of caring; she had resigned herself to her fate.

Leng looked disappointed, "Nothing? No words of 'you'll pay?' or 'you won't get away with this?' Weak. Pathetic," he spat again, this time at her feet, "Hell, I don't even know why I'm wasting saliva on you. Play time is over; goodbye Admiral," and then he swung the blade, the weapon coming for Shala's chest...

"NO!"

Shala's head snapped towards the source of the voice and watched as the quarian man leapt through the doorway, past the three snipers and barrelled into Leng at full speed. The man kept a firm grip on his blade, but was unable to keep himself up right and both of them rammed into the table, up and over, and onto Shala's side, where he proceeded to trade blows at Leng's face. The snipers went to react, but Shala grabbed the carnifex, took aim, and fired. Three perfect headshots, point blank, taking them out instantly, bodies crumpling down dead. She smiled smugly.  _My skills aren't as rusty as I thought..._

She turned back to assist Byp in fighting Leng, but only turned in time to scream as time seemed to slow...

She watched Leng's fist connect with Byp's mask, causing it to crack as he fell off the man and landed next to him, her husband unable to react due to him having no combat experience, being strictly civilian. Leng punched him again, dazing him, giving Leng the unbelievable amount of speed to pick up his blade and turn back to Byp...

She lunged for him, but she was too late. She watched as Leng's blade plunged deep into Byp's gut, the man letting out a scream of agony, mixed with a choked gasp, and grabbed for the blade thrusted into him. Leng, smugly satisfied, turned to face Shala, wrenching the blade from Byp's soaked chest, allowing a geyser of blood to flow. Tears brimmed in her eyes, but also pure, seething, anger...

Leng's smile dropped as Shala raised her pistol at the speed of light, giving him no time to react as she fired four successive shots at his knees. The first two shots harmlessly connected with his kinetic barriers, but the third impacted the leg below the right knee, and the fourth did the same to his left leg. Leng fell to the ground, but Shala wasn't done.

She knee'd him in the face, causing him to double over onto his back, release his grip on his blade and fall over, bloody droplets flying from his mouth and nose before she then blew apart his left kneecap with the same pistol. It was out of ammo now, but she couldn't care, simply turning the weapon and pistol whipping him across the face, seemingly knocking him out. Satisfied, she let the anger drain out before dropping the weapon, turning and racing for Byp's bleeding form...

By the time she reached him, he was fading out, practically lying in a pool of thick red. Byp looked at her weakly and held out a hand, which Shala rushed over and took, kneeling down beside him. _No, you were meant to be safe...out of harm...you're not-you can't...I won't...please..._

Another hand meekly stroked her cheek, causing a sob to escape her lips, to which Byp shook his head, wiping his hand across her mask; a symbolic way for quarians to show their affection in times of misery, kind of like how humans wipe away tears on another's face to calm them down. Her grip on his hand tightened.

"Shala..." he weakly groaned.

"Help is coming," Shala blurted out, nodding in a vain attempt to convince herself, "The cavalry is coming, like you said."

"No its not Shala..." he replied, coughing up blood in his visor, "I'm going to die, I won't kid myself. You shouldn't kid yourself. I'm sorry."

"You weren't..." Shala wept, "You were supposed...meant to be safe...I can't...please don't do this to me...you're...oh keelah, ancestors have mercy...don't die! I...I need you! I need...I need  _you_..." her sobbing intensified.

Byp tried to lift himself up, "Please Shala...before I die...take off my mask...take off yours...I want...to see...your face...one...last...time..."

"But..." Shala shook her head, "But you'll be okay..."

"Please Shala," Byp begged, and she could tell he was weeping too, "One last thing...for me...for us..."

Shala nodded reluctantly, reaching up and removing his mask. She placed it next to him, drinking in his calm features, his small lips and his greyish hair. She removed hers next, placing it next to hers and she cupped both his cheeks in her hands as she leaned in and kissed him tenderly, both of their salty tears fixing with each other. She felt Byp pull down her hood and run a hand through her long, blonde hair. Shala almost pulled back when she tasted coppery blood on his lips, but she ignored it, her eyes closed and drinking in her last kiss...their last kiss...

She pulled back and looked at him, his eyes and she knew it was over. There was nothing they could do to save him in time. She wanted to take her anger out on Leng, but she ignored him, deciding to deal with him later. A long moment of silence passed before Byp finally spoke.

"I love you Shala," he mumbled, the light fading from his eyes as she leaned forward and pressed her tender lips against his exposed forehead, "With all my heart, with all my soul, and with all the ancestor's approval. I love you in life, I love you in death, I love you for eternity. Don't mourn me forever though; the fleet must...always...come...first..."

Shala weakly nodded, not even taking in his words. After a few moments she continued stroking his head, "I love you too Byp. Keelah, I do. But please, this can't be the end..."

No response. She pulled away and looked into Byp's now lifeless eyes. She realized that her last goodbye had gone unheard, his body going limp before she could even finish. A new wave of tears fell and she wailed. She spun to stab at Leng, but saw his body gone, the man obviously having fled. But vengeance didn't matter. For her husband, her love, was gone.

She spun back around and embraced his body, holding onto it and rocking it back and forth as she wept into his chest, wailing long and hard, without breath or reprieve. Tears just flowed like a river on her face, and they echoed throughout the ship.

All the Tonbay could hear was the cries of anguish from the broken heart of an admiral.

**"Those bastards...noone hurts my auntie like that..."**

**\- Tali'Shepard pav Rannoch.**

**"They paid in blood."**

**\- Marcus Shepard.**

**"So, what happened next?"**

**\- Tali'Shepard pav Rannoch**

**"Ah...can't you guess?"**

**\- Marcus Shepard.**

_**A/N:** _

_**Yes, this was largely focused on the War for Omega, which will become a central part of the story, but will not override the Shadow Broker Arc, I promise. And judging by Shepard's mischevious words, you can expect something exciting to happen next chapter...and unfortunately no, it doesn't involve Leng's intestines spilling out onto the pavement.** _


	19. I'm As Free as Dust on a Solar Wind

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Broker gives Peta a fresh opportunity to eliminate Shepard. Petrovsky springs his trap. Shepard poses a significant question to Tali.

**REQUIEM**

**CHAPTER EIGHTEEN:**

**I'M AS FREE AS DUST ON A SOLAR WIND**

_November 3, 2185_

_0912 hours._

_VICINITY UNKNOWN. DATA INCOMPLETE. LOCATION UNKNOWN._

_The Shadow Broker._

These failures were really starting to get to the Broker, and if Shepard and his group weren't eliminated soon, he might have to start killing some people. He had sent a message to his agent on Illium, and he had informed him that the Normandy had left Illium two days ago, and the homing beacon placed on the frigate's hull stated that the vessel was heading back to the Flotilla.  _And I can't send any troops to once again try and take them out, because the quarian broker will have my ass for it._

For once, the Second Broker had the urge to kick the quarian in the face and take control of the network. He didn't exactly need her, and noone knew who the Shadow Broker was or what it was, so noone will notice one less Broker. But could he do it without her noticing? The quarian seemed to know everything. And she appeared to be extremely overprotective of Shepard's quarian; Tali'Zorah. How did he know that the quarian was even on this very vessel? What if she communicated to him from yet another base?

Irrelevant questions, he told himself. Taking over would matter nill if Shepard wasn't taken care of. This quarian broker wanted to let Shepard find them, but he wasn't going to let that happen. The other broker was a fool, but he knew what had to be done. Shepard needed to die. Zorah needed to die. T'Soni had to die.

His deception operation had obviously failed, with the Normandy no worse for wear. Sure some doubts had been planted among the crew, but nothing majorly crippling. But, in hindsight, he probably should have known this would happen, considering the strength of Shepard's crew and the friendships he had already formed between them.  _A foolish plan to begin with; you're grasping at straws._

He clasped his massive hands together on the desk, the third new desk now creaking under the weight put on it. His terminal stare at him, his list of agents and information waiting eagerly before him. Also, hovering not too far away, a white drone hovered, encircled with light. It was his assistant, which he had programmed to speak. He beckoned it over.

"Do you request assistance, Shadow Broker?" The drone replied in a dull monotone.

"Yes," he replied, his voice demanding, "Bring up all the files you can on our agents, and pick out the best of them. Have them on standby."

"Affirmative Shadow Broker," the drone replied, "A full list will be sent to your terminal and pend checking."

"Good. Now enter shutdown mode," the Broker ordered, and the drone nodded in its own drone like way (which involved rotating down its y-axis) and then the glow of light forming the drone evaporated, the ball representing it falling to the desk and falling easily into his massive grip, where he pocketed it. He grunted, turning back to face his terminal.

The Broker had to carefully weigh his options; an all-out assault with his private army wouldn't get past the quarian's view, and it would be a careless waste of resources. Another deception operation wouldn't work well, so that left him with assassins and hitmen. He could try and offer Massani a bounty for Shepard's life, but not only was the bounty hunter comatose, but he would never betray the man who helped him kill Vido Santiago.  _Yet again, I was the one to give him that info. A pity he was so quick to betray me to Shepard._

So he thought about Shepard's destination; the Migrant Fleet. Bribing the quarians to kill one of their icons would never happen, and they wouldn't lay a hand on the Hero of the Citadel. The admirals can't be bribed, except for Xen, and there's not much she could do to harm Shepard anyway, and the conclave are useless in a situation like this. There's only one quarian he could make use of...

Peta had proven his usefulness. The assault on the Rayya may have failed, but the quarian had executed his instructions without fail and clean precision, disabling the ship's communications and weaponry. The mechanic had proven his worth, and with the quarian's desire to drag Zorah into his arms, he would be the most valuable asset he had. But another assault was out of the question.

But assassins weren't. Vasir was hardly subtle as a spectre, and using any other spectre would be irrational due to their connections to the Council. Bounty Hunters were the same, due to how mediocre or idiotic they could be, and precision hitmen were hard to come by, especially when the only ones worth anything were drell, and the best drell assassin in recent history was on Shepard's crew. But did the assassin necessarily have to have the profession?

What if subtlety was just what he needed?

His gaze glazed over Peta'Yala's profile. The mechanic was hardly combat material, and that doubled for his assassination abilities. However, despite Peta's obvious jealously towards Shepard, noone would suspect him. Which is just why the quarian would be perfect for this task. Noone would see it coming until Shepard was dead. Peta's inability to kill Tali because of his emotions was troublesome, but would be easily swept aside, given Shepard being the more dangerous of his three targets; he was a priority alpha.

That left the problem of getting Peta close enough to Shepard, not to mention getting him alone and unseen, to eliminate him. And it would have to be when Shepard was oblivious, as just charging the spectre with a knife would not end well; Shepard wasn't Lion of Elysium, Butcher of Torfan, Survivor of Akuze, Hero of the Citadel and Destroyer of the Collectors for no reason. Just attacking him was suicidal at best, certain death at worse.

Peta was his last reliable agent next to his one on Illium; he couldn't fail, and the Broker was sure he wouldn't. This would take time to develop however, and couldn't be executed on the spot. The only way to do that...

Yes, Shepard had a history of recruiting the best of the best, not to mention he has four quarians serving on his crew already, so what's one more? Zorah was his chief engineer, but he has yet to add a proper mechanic to the roster...

That was his answer. Without Shepard even knowing of the Broker's involvement, Peta would ask to join the Normandy crew. Shepard, being the unbelievably chivalrous person he was, would allow this, allowing Peta full roam. Plenty of time to catch Shepard alone and eliminate him. Shepard killed from within; that would be amusing, not that the Broker had time for amusement.

The Broker would grin if his species was capable of it. He typed into his terminal with his massive, muscular claws, sending the message to Peta before creating a new tab, leaving the other open and eagerly awaiting Peta's response. His omni-tool suddenly beeped with a new message and he opened it, seeing a new message. He opened it and read the contents.

_From: {Blocked}_

_To: UNKNOWN. MESSAGE RELAYED THROUGH MULTIPLE PORTS. {Error: Cannot determine}_

_Subject: The Omega situation._

_Files encased in encryption below; top level clearence._

With a grunt, he activated his drone and directed it to break the encryption. Once broken, the drone fell into his pocket again and he opened the omni-tool, waiting for it to cycle through before the newly unencrypted message opened up.

_From: Agent {Name Withheld}_

_To: {Name Withheld}_

_Subject: The Omega situation._

_Shadow Broker, there's been a new development. Cerberus seems to be causing some noise; don't know what he did, but I just heard from one of my agents in the Blood Pack that they killed Patriarch and the next thing I know all my agents from all merc factions are lighting up with reports of a 'War for Omega' popping up. The whole station is a battlefield! Aria must have really slipped up!_

_Agent Grizz is dead, but that was a given. However, another agent in Aria's personal guard reported the existence of 'zombies' boarding and attacking. Aria's forces repelled them before a Cerberus dreadnought decided to appear. Not much else has happened, but apparently Aria has left the station with 'General Petrovsky.'_

_I'll update you as more information arises. Its going to get messy._

_To: {Name Withheld}_

_From: Agent {Name Withheld}_

The Broker frowned and sent a message in response.

_From: {Name Withheld}_

_To: Agent {Name Withheld}_

_Subject: Re: The Omega situation._

_Gather as much information as you can; I want to know everything that happens as soon as it happens. I do not know of Cerberus' motives on this, but I will find out. Keep me updated as promised, Broker out._

_To: Agent {Name Withheld}_

_From: {Name Withheld}_

Sending the message, he leaned back, standing up to approach the desk behind him, his thumping footsteps echoing across his spaceous office interior; the utilitarianistic design easily suiting his needs. Behind him was a massive array of computer screens lining the wall; about sixteen monitors, all ringing with calls from various agents, companies and other politicians. His master terminal sat on the desk, along with a monster chair. He plopped down in it, shaking his head.

_The Illusive Man never informed me of an invasion of Omega...although I guess its of no consequence. A Cerberus occupation of that scum-hole station is of little concern to me; its the motives behind. You usually only take a station of that size as a staging area, but a staging area for what? War? How does the Illusive Man plan to take on the galaxy with an army like his? And that's assuming its the galaxy he plans on taking on._

He shook his head, turning to his multiple monitors and cracking his neck.  _No matter; let Harper do as he wishes; I have more important things to deal with. Like how to deal with Shepard and his crew. They must be neatralized at all costs, and I'm positive Peta can sufficiently cut off the head of the snake._

He growled.

All he had to do was find a way to burn the body.

**{Loading...}**

_November 3, 2185_

_0918 hours._

_Engineering, Mediator-Class Heavy Tanker QMFV Huzzi, Migrant Fleet, Enoch System, Rosetta Nebula._

_Mechanic Peta'Yala vas Huzzi._

"The hell are you doing here, Peta?" Herdi asked, throwing Peta a suspicious glance as he proceeded to cross his arms infront of his chest, leaning back on the main engineering console behind him; even further behind him being the titanic drive core of the Huzzi. Herdi had never taken a particular liking to Peta, being the chief engineer of the ship, and had always been a bit 'overprotective' of the ship's drive core, like it was his son or something.

Peta sighed, rubbing his faceplate, a common human practice he was far too accustomed to, "To do work Herdi; what do you honestly think?"

Herdi narrowed his eyes, "I think you're here to cause trouble, that's what."

Peta rolled his eyes at Herdi's own hostile pose, "Why do you hate me so much?"

"I don't trust you," Herdi spat, turning back to his console, not even sparing his fellow quarian a final glance, "But the captain obviously wants you here, so I can't stop you; his word is  _the_  word. But I'll be keeping my eye on you; no funny business."

Peta just shrugged carelessly, currently past giving a shit what other people thought.  _Great, now you assume colorful human language as well._ Peta, emotionally blank inside and outside, moved past Herdi to his main console, ignoring the lingering glares from the engineering crew, all of them far too suspicious of him, but most for good reasons.  _They all noticed my absence from the evacuation area; they all think I was behind the attack on the Rayya. And I can do nothing to disprove them. Even the captain seems worried I'll blow up the ship. Surprised I haven't been kicked out yet._

The quarian quickly reached his work terminal and began bringing up the Huzzi's engine schematics, making sure to check the heating conductors and main coolant vents. But that was merely a distraction from his true emotions.

He had failed yet again. Or rather, the Shadow Broker had failed once again to deliver Tali into his arms.

He had done everything that was asked of him, even going as far as to sacrifice some of his own people in the name of his love for Tali. He knew, deep down in his heart, that she was worth any kind of sacrifice. She was worth every death.  _Keelah, you're too sappy. Do you love her, or is the only appeal being able to impregnate the daughter of the Ex-Chief of the Admiralty Board?_ But if that was the case, why continue to chase after her? Why allow the attack on the Rayya to occur? Rael'Zorah had died a month ago, so what was the point?  _Maybe because she's a galactic hero..._

He put an end to those thoughts quickly; he loved Tali'Zorah, with all his heart, and knew he desperately wanted her feelings for him, to be able to marry her and have as many children as they wished, zero population growth be damned. Peta wasn't familiar with parenthood, but he was positive he could make a good father! And Tali...he longed to see her face, to feel her skin under his hands, to hear her moans as they made passionate love...

He wanted her desperately; he'd kill for it. He'd risk treason for it. But that human had stolen her heart, taken her away.  _Tali is sick, and she needed...needs...to be cured..._

But his plan had all tumbled when the boarding action on the Rayya fell apart. They were meant to kill Shepard, Liara T'Soni and Shala'Raan, leaving Tali alive for him to eventually sway to his side. But not only had they survived and Tali was still in Shepard's clutches, but the Cerberus and Shadow Broker forces had been decimated.  _My betrayal of my people. All those dead innocents...all of it was pointless..._

That thought haunted him more than anything. He had wanted so much, selfishly by quarian standards, to be with Tali, his one true love; the one he had watched ever since he was a young boy. He knew she had felt the same, but of course, being apart from him for so long on her pilgrimage had allowed...outside...influences to grow on her, and eventually corrupt her. He just had to release her from the prison the human had her in...show her the world he offered her...and he knew she would have broken in and embraced him.

But now it had all been for moot. Tali was still not in his arms, but on the Normandy. Multiple people had died and it had all been for nothing. Even Peta, who had seemed so infallible in his quest for Tali, had been fazed by the events, wondering if it had all been worth it. He came to an undeniable conclusion.

It hadn't been worth it.

And that's what haunted him.

But as much as he wanted to, he couldn't stop thinking about Tali. He still wanted her, deep down, but only guilt built up when he thought of her now; her beautiful image ruined by the blood of all those who died for his own selfish endeavours. Peta sighed heavily and inhaled, ignoring his own thoughts and continuing with his work.

His omni-tool beeped and he immediately knew who it was.  _Ready to condemn me for failure, are you Broker?_ Peta lamented, but silently hoped to be hounded for his actions. He deserved it. At least the Broker's scolding of him would be close enough to actual scolding. And no matter how much Peta wanted to admit to the crime, he couldn't, because his own selfishness once again dictated that he didn't want to leave the Flotilla; his only home.

He opened the message and read its contents, his eyes widening as he did.

_From: {Name Withheld}_

_To: Peta'Yala_

_Subject: A new plan._

_I know how painful it must be for you right now. Having to sacrifice others for love is a dangerous thing, and right now you must feel that all those sacrifices were for nothing: Well, I am about to give you another chance at getting the one you love on your side. I chance that is foolproof if you do it correctly. You can make it all worth it._

_Shepard is currently approaching the Migrant Fleet and will arrive in one day. When he does, be on the Rayya, as that is where he'll dock; its the only liveship he approaches. Then, approach him and ask to join his crew; he'll have no valid reason to turn you away, so therefore you'll be able to get close and personal with him._

_Then, whenever you can, find a way to get him by himself and alone, preferably in his cabin where noone will notice, and then strike him when he's not looking; slit his throat, shoot him in the back of the head, it doesn't matter how, just do it. Remember, do it discreetly and with him knowing none the better; you cannot hope to take him in hand-to-hand or with him armed. Eliminate him, and the rest of the Normandy's resistance will crumble. T'Soni will be revealed eventually._

_With nothing holding her back, Tali will return to the fleet...to you..._

_Think about it and tell me when you're in. Good luck._

_To: Peta'Yala._

_From: {Name Withheld}_

Peta just stood there, staring at the message with confusion at the sudden turn of events. He had expected the Shadow Broker to cut all ties to him, to scold him and call him a failure, and then declare him a wasted resource before severing all connections to him. But he didn't; he had instead offered him a way out, a path to absolution. He could fix it all, make things right, and get the girl, all at the same time. But was it worth it?

The answer was undeniable, but Peta's mind wouldn't listen.

Yes, it was worth it.

_But what if I'm caught? What if Shepard is too suspicious and refuses my request? What if Shepard finds out what I'm up to? What if Tali continues to reject my advances even after Shepard is dead? What if I get caught and found guilty of treason against the Flotilla? Attempting to murder another quarian is punishable by exile! Am I really going to put everything, my entire life, on the line just for one girl?_

Again, the answer was undeniable, but Peta's mind was unyielding.

Yes, you are. Because you love her. And you would do anything for her...to get her.

Herdi hissed from next to him, as did several other engineers, and Peta realized he had been standing there, blankly looking at his omni-tool. He shook his head, provided his apologies, and then turned back to his terminal, pretending to type, but in reality, he wasn't doing anything, too focused on the Broker's offer.

Its a way out, its so perfect. You'll get Tali; you'll have your wife and the family you always dreamed about...married to the most iconic quarian in history, a woman you love, and to have children who will grow up to just be like you; your own flesh and blood. Everything will be right with the world; you get the girl, children and you'll finally be treated with the respect you deserve. Noone will look down on you ever again...

...so why does it feel so wrong?

Peta reflected all the things he had done to achieve his goals. He had allied with the Shadow Broker. He had allied with Cerberus; an avowed enemy to the quarian people, second only to the geth. You are secretly conspiring behind her father's back, even going as far as to spite his memory by scheming, and serving, on the dead man's ship. You are willing to  _murder_ a man simply for loving someone you love.

What kind of monster had love turned him into?

He remembered when he was a young boy; how he used to talk with Tali. It had been his first day at school, and he had no friends, noone willing to talk with him. And then Tali had arrived, surrounded by a circle of friends, mostly girls, hounding around her. But Tali had excused herself from them to speak to  _him_ of all people; the boy noone liked or wanted to talk to. As an admiral's daughter, everyone wanted to be friends with her, but she decided to defriend  _him_ ; something he'll never forget. It wasn't love at first sight, but it did develop that way.

Then the school years developed and people began to bully him; but like always, Tali, along with a bigger kid from a year above them named Kal, came to his defense, always standing by his side. Sure, the bullies had started to turn their attacks on Tali, to which he always felt guilty about, like her meer friendship with him and warranted those attacks, but she had taken it; she may have withered at the insults thrown at her sometimes, but she never showed it. And when Peta gained the confidence, he stood up for her as well.

Secondary school marked the period of time where he realized he was in love with her. Of course, he noticed how Tali didn't seem to show him the same feelings; in fact, she seemed to shoot Kal, of all people, lustful glances sometimes, her eyes even checking out his body from time to time before being told to concentrate by the teacher. Of course, those feelings quickly died when Kal got his first girlfriend, and that's when he was sure Tali fell for him. He lusted for those times again. How they had all changed.

Kal was a highly-decorated Migrant Fleet General. Tali was a highly-decorated combat engineer, Migrant Fleet General and a Hero of the Citadel. Peta...well, he was just some mechanic.

He had just been a lovesick school boy back then, but he knew his feelings were genuine; during his pilgrimage, he had missed Tali, yearning to see her most of the time. When he finally returned to the fleet, he had been pleased to see her there, only just resisting the urge to hug her. Ever since then, he had become  _completely_ obsessed with being near her at all times. And some part of him, some  _delusion,_  told him she liked being stalked, that she wanted the attention, that she was waiting to lead him to a clean room, where she'd confess her feelings and then they'd have heated-

But his thoughts digressed. When she embarked on her own pilgrimage, he seemed obsessed with nothing else but waiting for her return. And when she did, she was not the Tali he remembered. She desperately avoided him, refused eye contact and seemed unwilling to even acknowledge his presence, sometimes even seeming  _infuriated_ by it. It saddened him to be ignored by the one person he ever cared about, but when he found out about Shepard...and how she felt about him...it had torn his heart apart...

Ever since then, he...he didn't know what he was anymore. When did Peta'Yala die, and the Shadow Broker's Pet Monster get birthed?

Peta was obsessed. And the obsessed become monsters. It tears them apart.

And love was the worst obsession of all.

But Peta, as much as he wanted to deny it,  _wanted_ to say yes, to give into temptation, to leap the opportunity to have Tali all to himself. And as his mental barriers slowly crumbled, as images of Tali and himself embraced appeared in his mind, he began to conform. Like a robot, he watched his arm raise itself, his hand seemingly moving of its own accord as it activated the tool, bringing up the message and hitting the reply button. Then he paused.

Should I do this? Can I even consider letting myself go like that?

His heart demand satisfaction.  _Take her. I want her. I need her. I yearn for her warmth._

_Its wrong! Its not right! I can't do this!_

_You sacrificed dozens of innocents for your own selfish love! Who cares about what's right and what's wrong! What you did was_ _**beyond** _ _wrong! You are beyond redemption! The best you can do is patch the wound, but is past healing!_

_I can't...its selfish...murder..._

_Shepard is an obstacle. A chain imprisoning your future wife. Cut the chain, and take her into your arms, comfort her, and love her. You know you want this. You will not be satisfied until you have her. All you will feel is emptiness._

_But...murder...I can't...that's not who I am..._

_You're noone! Peta'Yala has been reborn! You are a man, you will never be the boy you were! Grow up and look at yourself! You have to_ _**earn** _ _the right to have her! Kill Shepard and you will have earned her! You're a_ _**murderer** _ _Peta! No point in denying it! Embrace yourself for what you are and deal with it! Push past it! Love conquers all, does it not?_

_That's...please..._

_**DON'T BEG! YOU ARE PETA'YALA VAS HUZZI, AND YOU DO NOT BEG YOU BOSH'TET! GET OUT THERE AND TAKE WHAT IS RIGHTFULLY YOURS!** _

That brokered no further argument, and Peta's hands typed without him even thinking about it. After a minute, he sent the reply and went back to his terminal, sending a message to the captain to relay to the Admiralty about a ship transfer.

Peta'Yala was no coward. He did not beg. If he loved Tali'Zorah, then he must earn her respect.

She is rightfully his. Ever since he first met her at school, he knew this. They were meant to be together. They were destined for each other.

Destiny always had a way of becoming fullfilled.

**{Loading...}**

_November 3, 2185_

_0921 hours._

_Main Bridge, Killmanjaro-Class Dreadnought CAW Elbrus HA-2, Asteroid Belt Around Omega, Sahrabarik System._

_War for Omega, Battle of the Sahrabarik System._

_Ruler of the Terminus Aria T'Loak, General Oleg Petrovsky._

Aria had missed Omega the moment she stepped on the Elbrus. She missed Afterlife as she stepped into her temporary quarters on the vessel. She had missed Bray, Anto and Gavorn as soon as she mingled with the Cerberus crew. And she missed Omega Control as soon as she stepped onto the dreadnought's bridge. The more she stayed on the Cerberus warship, the more she continued to miss her beloved station.

She currently stood in the middle of the Elbrus' bridge, looking out into space, eying the Sahrabarik Relay that glowed brightly in the distance. Over the past two days, the War for Omega had just gotten worse. Entire parts of the station were locked in open warfare, with her own pirate forces heavily engaged with mercenary forces; with the Blue Suns, Blood Pack and Eclipse taking the lead, as always. Until Cerberus arrived, it was a losing battle for Aria.

Thankfully for her, Petrovsky had spared the dreadnought's entire battalion, deploying them on the station with the purpose of holding Aria's territory. And Aria had gotten a glimpse at Petrovsky's forces; she didn't know when Cerberus' commandos had gotten an upgrade, but they had, and it was damn fucking awesome. Over one thousand badass augmented soldiers, all flying Cerberus banners and on Aria's side.

The new Cerberus range was pretty large; there were the standard assault troopers with SMGs, light assault rifles and shotguns and had augmented speed, but were largely cannon fodder due to being slighty 'incompetent' in tactics. A side effect of the upgrades, Petrovsky said, but Aria simply responded with 'a fuckwit is a fuckwit. No implant will change that.'

The Centurions were squad commanders who were slower, but had augmented strength to deal with the weight of the heavy armor. They carried heavy assault rifles, were equipped with smoke grenades and usually took the rear as fire support, occassionally supporting heavy weapons, as Aria noticed one wielding a M-920 Cain. And they were definitely smarter than assault troopers; guess all of the troopers were the old commandos, and all the rest are brand new 'recruits.'

Combat Engineers were tech support, wielding light armor, had had augmented strength and speed. Their enhanced strength allowed them to carry the large turret on their back, along with the phalanx pistol on their hip, and their omni-tool. Combat Engineers usually came in small numbers, usually one or two to a squad, but they would prove a bane to the mercs, even giving the Eclipse a run for their money; these engineers were speed demons. She had seen one hack a heavily encrypted door, a door encrypted with STG anti-hacking programs she might add, within three minutes.

Guardians were walking cover, to be colloquial. They were the strongest out of all the Cerberus trooper variants, wielding the heaviest armor and a shield that weighed more than five men; a shield made of an alloy that was so strong, no bullet could penetrate it; not even a Widow. Even explosive ordnance only left a scorch. It was heat resistant, and thick, with a slot at the top for the man to move and see ahead. He also carried a powerful M-358 Talon pistol; which had to be the most powerful pistol she had ever since. It served as a pistol-version of a eviscerator shotgun.

Nemeses are sharpshooters and long-range support. They wore lighter armor than the Cerberus soldiers, but had the most augmented speed out of all of them, save the phantom, giving them the ability to move from point to point very quickly, aided by their tactical cloak. They also were stronger; being that all the nemeses were females, and she had seen one or two wielding a Widow rifle, and another a Mantis. But most wielded Raptor marksman rifles. They had enhanced precision and targetting, almost never missing a target.

Phantoms...she didn't know what to think of those creepy fuckers. They were all female, just like the Nemeses, but were much faster in terms of speed and accuracy. They were experts at hand-to-hand, and were masters at the sword. Petrovsky described them as top of their class, be able to even outmatch N7 in sheer skill. They were supernaturally fast in human regards, and Aria knew she wouldn't want to face one if it got up close.  _I'd probably just crush it into a fucking pulp._

What Aria didn't expect, was the Dragoons. Petrovsky stated they were a last minute project that the Illusive Man had devised titled 'Project: Phoenix.' The Illusive Man had come to the decision that there was a lack of biotics in Cerberus' military, and that hole needed to be filled desperately. Project Phoenix birthed Dragoons; a special breed of soldier specialized in centrally just biotics; no projectile weapons of any kind; not even a sword.

The Dragoons wore medium armor and a full-head helmet, accompanied by a golden visor that started from the bottom of his chin, all the way to the back of his scalp. They had augmented strength and speed, along with vision, and could make tactical decisions on the move. They had an upgraded L6 implant, along with the cybernetics that strengthened them even further, making them into powerful biotics. She had seen one, and only one, form a unique ability called the 'whip' which allowed the biotic to form a pulsating array of energy in his palm, that then developed into the shape of a dark energy whip, allowing biotics to pull hostiles from cover. And Dragoons were the only ones not to be gender discriminate; she had seen male and female dragoons.

Of course, the Atlas mechs painted gold and white didn't surprise her at all. Atlases were hardly a Cerberus creation; she knew that many militaries used to use them years ago, but since stopped using them due to them being too 'bulky' in combat. Now the mechs found themselves in the hands of mercs, who didn't use them to their full potential. And now Cerberus built them on mass, and Petrovsky had five of them in his battalion. These ones upgraded with shields and given stronger main weapons, and a thickened glass cockpit.

Overall, she was damn impressed by the Cerberus force, and was even more impressed that those soldiers now fought on Omega alongside Aria's troops, steadily pushing her enemies back. That taught them to fuck with Aria. She had powerful allies in high places it seemed.

Those soldiers had deployed two days ago. Ever since then, every Terminus vessel that was armed and was, or already was, willing to fight under Aria had been rallied. About thirty-six vessels now occupied the space around the Elbrus, a see of fish ready to strike out. The mercenaries were preoccupied with taking Omega from her. But she knew the real threat was still coming.

Those fucking Adjutants. Monsters from the pits of hell. Creatures of such repulsiveness that they transformed the dead into more of themselves, turning them into a neverending horde of technological zombies. Reaper husks created by Cerberus to be controlled by Cerberus, but now ran rogue, and guess who they decided to invade? Omega. And whoever fucked with Omega, fucked with Aria. She  _was_ Omega.

An armada of over forty ships full of adjutants were coming, Petrovsky had said. Several had arrived already, but the Elbrus had arrived just in time to destroy them, a fact which Aria still found suspicious.  _How is it he arrived at the scene so quickly? If he was only just investigating this, then how the hell is it he arrived before the adjutants were overunning my fucking station? It doesn't make any sense._

But she had seen Petrovsky's gaze. It was determined; telling the  _truth._ He wasn't lying. Otherwise she'd see it; Aria had a gift for telling when people were lying; even the most stone-faced of assholes had a hard time deceiving her.

Aria turned to face Petrovsky, who was sitting in his command chair, also looking out into space with a blank, but musing expression. His pupils showed intense thought, as if already dictating the strategies in his head. His hands were locked infront of him, elbows on the arm rests as he occassionally turned to answer reports or questions from his crew, but otherwise, he was entirely focused. Petrovsky seemed to avoid her gaze, ignoring her existence. He had expressed his displeasure at sending his troops to Omega, stating that they had no commanding officer apart from Colonel Ashe, who was currently in her custody, but she hardly thought him a man to hold petty grudges. He was above that.

Aria had to hold in a chuckle as her eyes lowered to the pedestal infront of the Cerberus general. On it sat a orange, holographic representation of a chessboard, with all the pieces neatly arranged on the checkered surface, Petrovsky seeming to have an obsession by going into battle using it. The pieces on his side were gold and white, with Cerberus logos painted on their tips, and at the opposite side of the board, were purple pieces, obviously representing the Adjutants, but with two pawns missing; they obviously represented the already destroyed enemy vessels.

She had asked him why he was infatuated with the chessboard, and Petrovsky had been the same calm, perfectly logical crap he always spouted. "A man's battles are won on a board; that's all a battlefield is really. A board where the pieces are moved into position by a person with the power. And in battle, when you kill a general, are you not checkmating them? A chessboard is the perfect place to plan a battle; the pieces move into place, and only intelligence can win the battle. Ever heard of a famous human artist of war named Sun Tzu? He defined war itself. 'The general who wins the battle makes many calculations in his temple before the battle is fought. The general who loses makes but few calculations beforehand.' I've learnt that lesson well Aria; maybe you should as well."

She had rolled her eyes at that, and simply watched as the entire line of pawns on Petrovsky's board moved forward two steps, followed by Petrovsky's entire line of pawns, the king moving in just behind the pawns. Aria found human culture fascinating when it wasn't fucking stupid and pointless.

She turned back to look outside; it was a fleet of every ship she could get. There were obsolete krogan freighters armed with an array of heavy guns, and a few Kowloon-Class Modular Conveyors outfitted with ship-to-ship guns. A few batarian frigates also sat there, not to mention a mix of salarian, turian, asari, hanar and human vessels as well, all either mercenary or pirate; all of them uniting in the defense of Omega; all because they were either loyal to Aria, or eager for a fight and expecting a reward. Petrovsky had stated they would serve as the 'shield' for the initial assault. Her response had been anything but friendly.

"They are not just meat! They are fighting for Omega!" Aria growled at him.

Petrovsky had just shook his head, "No need to feel angry, Aria. The Adjutants will not attack our ships; they cannot, and will not, risk losing the potential for more victims. They'll try boarding actions and swarming tactics, but the sheer numbers in our fleet and the fact you have a military dreadnought will improve our chances of catching them in a tight spot. I find it difficult being in bed with pirates, but it is necessary."

Aria had chuckled at that, "I don't consider us in bed, Petrovsky."

"Neither do I," Petrovsky replied bluntly, "Especially since I have little time for such activites."

"Not a fan of women, General?" Aria asked, voice laced with mischevious. She wasn't interested; she never was. Sex wasn't her...regime.

"I'm not a fan of wasting time," the general replied, "I play the art of war, not the art of relationships. One is far more useful than the other, and at the moment, that usefulness might just help save your station."

That had shut Aria up, but she would never admit it. Not to Petrovsky. She was the bitch queen of Omega who was intimidated by noone and was respected by everyone. She wasn't going to have that reputation refuted by having some Cerberus general no he had shut her up. She would never live it down.  _And now I must really keep the act, with Patriarch gone and all that. Damn it Nyreen, where the fuck are you when Omega needs you? When our daughter needs you? Fucking whore of a cunt; why did I trust you? Why do I even care about you?_

Maybe because you love her?

Aria? Love? What a fucking joke. She should put that in the Galactic Jokes Book as a Number One Death Inducer. If there was anything that Aria T'Loak wasn't, it was a romantic type.

_I did seem to enjoy fucking her though...only woman, or person for that matter, I've ever fucked in my entire life...and I_ _**loved** _ _it...fuck am I retarded! Are you Aria T'Loak, or Aria T'Soni? Forget that soft shit. You've got a station to defend; that's the only thing you love. Your fucking station._

Aria wouldn't deny it; she loved Omega; loved it to death. It was her home, her  _life._ Abandoning it was out of the question, and she'd rather die than give it up. Omega made her what she was, turned her from a pitiful nothing to a feared dictator. She thought herself fair, and Omega didn't seem to complain; at least until now.

_I knew ever since Jaroth sent that message to Tarak that I might have an uprising; but I just assumed that since Archangel killed both of them, that that was the end of that! But of course not! Some fuckwit decided to let it slip through the net that Patriarch was my rope, and they cut it! Talking about fuckwits...if I get my hands on him or her...I'll choke the fucking life out of them...or bash them around with my biotics...choices..._

She just hoped Anto could keep everything under control until she got back to reassume control of her forces on Omega.

"Sir!" the Elbrus' navigator cried out across the dimly lit room, white light filling the room, "Energy build up at the Sahrabarik Relay! We've got...twenty plus contacts! I think its them!"

Petrovsky nodded and sat up, leaving his holographic chessboard visible as he faced the navigator, "Very good. Bring us on a direct heading with the head of the fleet and give me fleet wide communications-"

"No," Aria snapped, " _I_ will give the orders, as they are my fleet. Trust me general, do not make the same mistake your colonel did."

Petrovsky gave her a long look before sighing, "Threatening me is a redundant maneoveur Aria, so you need not bother," he turned to his communications officer, "Give Aria full access to fleet-wide comms," he turned to his tactical officer, "Ready bow weapons and prep forward torpedo bays; GARDIANs on standby. Sound the General's Quarters."

The lighting on the bridge switched to a dull, hellish crimson, the dreadnought changing its direction to face the relay directly instead of a full broadside. Petrovsky seemed to be in his element; barely flinching with the change of lighting and just spoke as his voice sounded throughout the whole ship, "General's Quarters, All hands man your battlestations. This is not a drill, I repeat, this is not a drill. General's Quarters, General's Quarters. All hands, man your battlestations."

Aria spoke into her comms, "All ships, turn to the relay and prepare to meet the enemy. Tear them to fuckin shreds. I want to hear your cries of anger echo across space,  _do you fuckin hear me!?_ "

Even non-loyalists responded in yells of defiance, all joining in Aria's battle cry as numerous voices joined as one, ready for the coming battle; not that it would be much of a battle. These were Cerberus research vessels, and were unarmed, and there was twenty of them coming. That peaked Aria's curiosity.  _Where's the other twenty? General Tzu here said there was forty? Something isn't right...where are the rest?_

Why do I have had a bad feeling in my gut?

The relay lit up with energy and she knew the killing frenzy had begun; but what came through the forked mass effect relay wasn't research vessels. They were Cerberus corvettes; moving faster and more sleekly, armed with numerous anti-fighter pulse lasers and light ship-to-ship weapons. So these ships fight back.

Twenty corvettes appeared in a mass of light, and any disciplined admiral or commodore would align them in a defensive formation, even Aria knew that. But these weren't seasoned soldiers; these ships were controlled by mindless Reaper husks intent on killing them all. But Aria knew, and Petrovsky knew, that the adjutants wouldn't dare attack vessels with potential hosts onboard; giving them a distinct advantage.

But when the corvettes started spreading out, and shooting towards their fleet, they soon found themselves proven wrong.

Eyes widened in surprise as a corvette smashed into a batarian frigate, taking the vessel completely by surprise. The two ships merged as one, metal raking against metal and combining in one metallic mess of sheeted armor. The frigate's bow was completely shredded while the corvette disintegrated from the impact, obviously not built for ramming, and continued into the frigate until it stopped a ways inside. The entire front of the batarian ship was now gone, a vast portion of the hull opened into space and sucking out any survivors and oxygen, leaving the ship dead and destroyed.

The rest of the adjutant fleet was unrelenting, taking Aria's forces completely by surprise. Two more corvettes rammed into two more of her ships, more of these being hegemony military vessels, with the adjutants leaving the ramming to stronger ships.  _Mindless? These fuckers are intelligent! They know their weapons are useless against the 'bigger kids', so they just ram them, destroying them before they can even use their weapons! The other ships are piecemeal!_

"You call this fucking mindless?" Aria snapped incredulous, spinning to face Petrovsky who, for the first time, looked genuinely shocked at the change of events. He was no longer leaning back in his chair, this time leaning forward. Upon the asari's outburst, he turned to her, shaking his head.

"I call it a change of heart," the general replied, watching the battle unfold, "These adjutants seemed to be gaining intelligence; its likely that they are assimilating the information of their previous hosts to use as background knowledge. They were nowhere near this intelligent before; it shows an example of evolution; cybernetic evolution. The Reapers never cease to surprise us, it would seem."

Before Aria could yell, he seemed to read her predictable mind and turned to his tactical officer, this time with a raised voice that demanded satisfaction, "Bring our GARDIANs to bear. Destroy every corvette that attempts to ram us," he turned to navigation, "Bring us around and head straight for the Sahrabarik Relay."

Aria, this time, just stood there and gave him a mixture of enraged expression and a confused one.  _He's lea...he's leaving Omega! He's taking me away and abandoning Omega! What the fuck does he think he's doing? I can't leave!_

"Before you ask Aria..." Petrovsky answered her unspoken thoughts, the general giving her a sympathetic glance, which was surprising, especially for him, "We're going to cut this at the source. We know the Adjutants originate from Avernus Station, so we're going to go to Avernus, board the station and destroy the adjutants from within and end this outbreak. There's another Cerberus station, Athens, posted at the receiving relay, but for all we know, they may have been overrun by the adjutants already. To save Omega, we must destroy our enemy from within. Your fleet can hold."

An explosion flashed near the port of the Elbrus; a GARDIAN laser system tearing apart an approaching corvette as it spotted and tried to ram them, but failed to get close enough before spotted and destroyed. Aria sighed, face bathed in orange light from the explosion. She faced Petrovsky, and nodded reluctantly, "Fuck. Fine, I'll leave. But Omega better be intact when I get back, or someone's going to pay. In blood."

Everything went silent as the Elbrus quickly exited the battle, Aria's fleet engaging and quickly turning the tide, destroying the corvettes extremely quickly, starting to push them back. Aria grinned sadistically as she faced the screen and watched the dreadnought approach the relay at a quickening pace.  _This battle is won. Omega will be liberated._

Three minutes later, and the Elbrus finally reached the Sahrabarik Relay, the mass effect machine releasing a tendril energy that seemed to grab the massive warship and fire it forward to its connecting relay, Tassrah, in the Phoenix Massing Cluster.

Space quickly returned in a second, the stars that had been stretching returning to normal shape as they arrived in the Tassrah System. Aria watched the space reform around them, followed by a large space station that looked alot like a hammer, shrouded in a void of stars. It was covered in the gold and white of Cerberus, and its logo, of course, was plastered all over it. And along the side was the unmistakenable name of the station. 'Athens Naval Dock.'

And as she turned back, she saw that, lined infront of it, was the other twenty corvettes of Adjutants, all haphazardly crossed along the station's perimeter and steadily moving for the relay. She heard someone stand up behind her, but she barely noticed as she frowned. Why wasn't the Elbrus attacking?

It was then that she noticed the larger shapes that were emerging from around the station and the Adjutant vessels. And as they moved further into view, she almost cursed out loud in horror, hitting a sudden epiphany as she saw the shapes come fully into view.

Corvettes. Frigates. Destroyers. Light and Heavy Cruisers. The massive form of a carrier. All of them headed for the relay and the Elbrus like a disciplined set of chess pieces, with fighters and interceptors flocking over them as cover, the Cerberus fleet moving in behind the Adjutant corvettes. She realized too late that this entire thing was a setup.

"The War for Omega was never about mercs Aria," Petrovsky's voice sounded, dangerously close to her ear; just close enough that his breath tickled the nape of her neck, "It was about the Reapers. This is nothing personal; I am only doing my job. You look out for your own kind, I must look out for mine. You were just another pawn in our little chess game, Aria."

She pulsed with biotic energy, but wasn't fast enough to block the coming blow. She screamed in unimaginable pain as she was hit from behind with a neural shock, sending her onto her knees as she fell face first into the ground, eyes drooping and body shaking. And before she could do anything else, a needle pierced the back of her neck, sedating her.

"You...fucker...you'll...pay," Aria mumbled, but it was no use, and she quickly found herself falling into a dreamless sleep. She had been cheated. Petrovsky had lured her into bringing the full might of her fleet out so he could swat it outside and he had played her like a fool; she had thought she could see all the liars, but it appeared she couldn't. But he would pay. Oh yes he fucking would.

She'd make all of Cerberus fucking pay.

 _Noone_ was taking her  **fucking** station!

_I AM OMEGA!_

**{Loading...}**

_November 3, 2185_

_0921 hours._

_Cargo Cell, Omega Control, Unnamed District, Omega._

_War for Omega._

_Colonel Raymond Ashe._

Idiots. Colonel Raymond Ashe of Cerberus was surrounded by them, and today, he was stuck with the worst kind of idiot; the alien kind. But if all went according to plan, that wouldn't matter for much longer. So he just sat there, leaning against the wall of his confinement, he simply zoned out of his captor's teasing, the two degenerates poking and mocking him for his defiance of Aria.

"Guess Cerberus doesn't recruit the bright ones anymore, do they? That Petrovsky looks old enough to be my father, so I guess he's old. But Colonel Sanders over there? He does he think he is, believing he can lead  _Aria T'Loak's_ men about? He was asking for that pounding, I'm telling ya," the turian guard said to the krogan, obviously raising his voice loud enough for Ashe to hear, desperate to get the human to hear his teasings.

The krogan guffawed, shotgun shifting in his two handed grip, "Damn right; the guy's a fucking imbecile. He's lucky to even be alive. I've never seen Aria being so generous," the krogan guard twisted to face Ashe in his small cell, "How about it, human? Feeling lucky?"

Ashe scoffed, a large grin covering his face as he looked back at the wall before him. It was grimy, covered in filth and stunk of shit, "Well I'll be damned, maybe I am! Guess she has a soft spot for me, heh?"

The turian growled and moved to throttle him, but the krogan held out his arm, apparently smarter than his turian counterpart. The krogan shot Ashe a weary glance, "Don't, Davus. This human's just being a smartass. Hopefully he'll have the wits to keep his mouth shut around Aria; lest he end up as a bloody smear on the wall."

"I look forward to it," the colonel responded, shaking his head with mirth, "It should be an aesthetically pleasing death. Paint, of the color red. Tell me, does red look good on Aria? I'm sure it does."

The krogan rolled his eyes, "Trying to be a tough guy; doesn't suit your species, human. So stop trying to impress us."

"Who am I impressing?" The colonel replied, pretending to scan the room, "I didn't realize there was anyone worth impressing."

There was no response, only a shuffle of feet as they turned back around, exchanging more banter, on Ashe's expense of course. Meanwhile, the Cerberus colonel brought up his omni-tool, which the oblivious idiots had decided to let him keep, and activated his omni-blade, testing it. He brought up the omni-tool on his other wrist, and activated the blade on that as well, giving him dual omni-blades; a weapon he very much liked, especially in close quarters.

"You know, I'm starting to wonder why Cerberus even came to the station," the krogan mumbled to his companion, "Kind've a waste of time. In my opinion, Aria should have told them to fuck off."

"And deal with those zombies ourselves?" The turian asked incredulously, "She made the right call, of that, there's no doubt."

"Yeah, but I don't trust 'em," the krogan shot a glance in Ashe's direction, "Something just feels...off. You know?"

"I know you must be taking the red sand again," the turian sighed, "Cerberus is here to help. Why must you always be paranoid?"

As they spoke, Ashe stood to his feet, omni-blades active on both wrists, but none of them even turned to face him. The idiots had also left the cell wide open, believing that two of them with weapons were bars enough.  _I'm a Colonel for a reason, and you're a pirate for a better reason. Lets see if alien scum have the same weakpoints as humans, shall we?_ He turned to face them though, and he quickly, but quietly, approached from behind their backs, a cruel smile on his features.  _I'm going to enjoy this._

"That paranoia proved right. Remember how I said Patriarch would meet a gruesome end eventually," the krogan asked, raising an eyebrow; if a krogan even could, "Yeah, well he's fucking dead, and half his head is missing, so that's got to be sort've gruesome. My paranoia always wins out."

The turian chuckled, "You're right once and just assume you're right all the time? Nice one Tex! I'll give you an academy award for paranoid asshole of the year. Make it the century; its a pretty big achievement."

"Ah, go to hell. Believe what you want to believe," the krogan waved a dismissive hand as Ashe stood just behind them; enough to lean forward and breathe on them, "But I know what I know. That guy is trouble, and we should have killed him already."

"Well don't worry," the turian growled back, "He's exactly where he belongs. Aria will deal with him later. Besides, what use is he to anyone in a cell?"

Ashe grinned and raised his omni-blades, "I'm just where I need to be."

Before either of them could turn, he brought the blades around and raked them across their adam's apple, or at least where they'd be on humans, and watched as they split open like skin breaking apart and orange and blue blood alike spilled out of them in a blood, bodies crumbling to the floor. With an amused laugh at the sight, Ashe kneeled down, blades evaporating and picked up the krogan's shotgun and turian's Tempest SMG, grimacing as orange and blue colors mixed around his feet, staining his polished boots.  _Repulsive._

He moved forward, pistol at his hip and shotgun raised, leaving the cell and stepping out into one of the corridors leading into Omega Control. He moved forward, snapping the neck of a batarian guard before continuing. Before long, he stepped out and into Omega Control's interior.

He looked down on them, every single person facing the main viewscreen of the room. Asari, turians, batarians and humans worked at the consoles as they worked to maintain Omega's systems. Ashe looked up to see the Battle of Sahrabarik outside; Terminus ships blasting apart Adjutant-controlled corvettes. The Elbrus was noone in sight.

_With Aria out of the picture, its time for phase two._

The First Fleet would be arriving through the relay soon, and that would mean he had to disable Omega's defenses and communications; and that meant taking Omega Control. As he looked down, he saw one centurion, four assault troopers and two combat engineers, the former guarding while the engineers helped maintain the Control Center's systems. Or at least, that was the cover.

He tapped a foot after foot on the ground until he arrived behind one centurion, and banged a hand against the side of his helmet. Like a robot, the soldier twisted around and fixed him with a crimson gaze, waiting for his orders. Ashe nodded at him, and the centurion nodded back, quickly turning around and sending orders to his men through their suit radios.

All were in position; and Ashe gave the attack call as he moved behind one batarian operator and pulled the trigger, the alien's brains painting the console infront of him.

Gunfire filled Omega Control as Anto spun around in shock. His men quickly rid the control center of all of Aria's guards, and it wasn't long before all operators were gunned down. The blood of asari, turians, humans, and batarians littered the room, mixing together in a rainbow like mix of gore. But Anto wasn't dead; he was  _fleeing._

Seeing the chaos in the building, the batarian quickly switched to a fight or flight instinct; in his case, it was flight. The batarian didn't even look back as he shot for the door, shoving past one assault trooper as Ashe raised his pistol to shoot Anto in the back of the head...

He was too slow. Anto slammed his fist against the haptic interface of the exit and shot through as the Colonel's pistol shot pinged off the door's arch. He cursed under his breath and ran forward to pursue the batarian, reaching the door as he heard a skycar's engines roar to life. He raised his pistol, but once again, was too late to stop it as it rose up and flew off, heading into Omega's streets below. He had taken Omega Control, but failed to kill off Aria's second-in-command. He holstered his pistol and cursed once more.  _But it doesn't matter; you have Omega Control, and therefore_ _ **you**_ _hold the dice._

With a sigh, he moved back inside, which now had Cerberus soldiers dragging dead corpses outside and cleaning up the place. Ashe approached the main centurion in charge; who had assumed Anto's position of standing at the front of the room. He turned towards him with a robotic stare. Ashe essentially snatched the radio from the centurion's palms, but he offered no objection, simply watching as Ashe turned, pulling the radio to his mouth.

"I want the commander of the Elbrus Battalion," Ashe hissed.

It wasn't long before the husky, sythensized voice of a centurion came through the radio, "This is Major Kyle. Colonel Ashe sir, is that you?"

"Yes and I'm reassuming command," Ashe snarled, practically spitting into the radio, "Operation: Foul Play is now in full operation. Have the mercenaries been pushed back?"

"Yes sir," Kyle responded.

"Good," Ashe responded, nodding to the centurion infront of him, who directed his troops to set up positions to defend the control center, "Then turn on Aria's troops and kill them; take them by surprise. Once done with them, move in and push the mercenaries from the station; target their headquarters with gunships and level them. I want this station half taken by the time First Fleet pops up. Anto escaped; if he appears, he's your top priority. Take him out."

"It'll be done sir. Kyle out," and with that, the radio went out. Ashe slammed the radio back into the centurion's chest and turned back to face the viewscreen, watching as the relay lit up in blue light and the Elbrus reappeared. Ashe smiled.  _And so the Fall of Omega begins. We'll have it within the week indeed. Maybe I'll get a promotion._

**{Loading...}**

_November 3, 2185_

_1243 hours._

_Starboard Observation, Normandy-Class Stealth Frigate Normandy SR-2, In FTL inbound for Enoch System, Rosetta Nebula._

_Commander Marcus Lee Shepard, Chief Engineer Tali'Zorah vas Normandy._

He sat there, looking out into space, watching as the stars zoomed past like streaks of light, the Normandy moving at Faster Than Light speeds, heading for the Migrant Fleet after yet another attack conducted by the Shadow Broker. Marcus Shepard had fought Heretic Geth, a rogue turian spectre, hordes of tank-bred krogan, the Collectors, all three major mercenary organizations and Cerberus. He had fought long and hard, and even in a period of peace, he got no rest. The Shadow Broker was out for his head, and he wouldn't rest until the entire Normandy crew was dust.

But in the end, that just didn't matter. Sure, he had got a message from his mother detailing Cerberus' attempt on her life and her crew's life. It had deeply saddened and angered both him and Tali when his quarian engineer had received word that a Cerberus assassin, by the name of Kai Leng, had tried to kill Admiral Raan, but had ended up killing her husband. Tali had wept nonstop for an hour, and Marcus could only comfort her; only Tali knew how much it felt to lose a loved one. She was just lucky that he came back. Shala would never get that chance.

But in the end, Marcus just didn't know what to think. He knew trying to track down Cerberus and the Shadow Broker's headquarters would be an impossible task; it was a big galaxy, and they could be anywhere; the search would take longer than his lifetime allows, and he knew the Reapers were of a far bigger threat. But they were months...years away. The Shadow Broker and the Illusive Man were here now; and he knew he had to deal with them.

But at the moment, as he sat on the sofa in the Starboard Observation deck, sitting next to Tali with his arm wrapped around her waist and the quarian pulled up against him, he just couldn't care. He should be doing something, but what could he do? Like he said, a search was pointless. All he could do for now, all  _any_ of them could do, was avoid the Broker and repel his attacks long enough for Liara to locate the bastard. Then they'd take the fight to him in the typical Normandy fashion; guns blazing and lots of explosions.

Both of them were silent as they sat there, Tali's head on his shoulder while he leaned on the top of her hood, none of them even moving as they just watched the stars go by, strangely entranced by the simple motions. After getting that fateful message from Shala, they had retreated to Starboard Observation, Gabby and Ken promising to handle engineering in Tali's absence, fearing their chief engineer's wrath if they didn't. Even Samara had been respectful enough to give them room; deciding to talk with Thane and meditate with him in Life Support; that, or she was training with Jack again in the Shuttle Bay.

Finally, Tali broke the silence, sniffing, "I-I-I can't believe-"

Marcus placed a finger on her vocalizer, "Shhhhh...none of us could have seen this coming."

"Poor Auntie Raan...," Tali whimpered, leaning further into him, protectively hugging him, as if afraid he would disappear, "What she's going through...losing her husband...it-its horrible. Unfathomable. She didn't deserve that. She didn't deserve any of this. When I-I-I lost you...I th-thought my l-life lost...lost meaning. To keep going on...Sh-Shala must be-be incredibly s-s-s-strong will-willed..."

"Yes, she must be," Marcus soothed, rubbing her shoulder and pulling her closer, "I don't know if I could stand losing you. The pain...it'd be too much. But hey, you did it. You lasted two years, and I came back. And I don't plan on leaving ever again. I promise."

Tali nodded weakly, "I just don't-Shala...what do I even tell her? How-how do you comfor-comfort someone w-w-who's gone thr-through something like that?"

Marcus sighed, leaning back, "I don't know Tali; I guess you don't say anything really. You just have to be there for them; let them know they aren't alone. Hold them close like I'm doing with you, and just show them you care. That'll have to be enough. In situations like this, there's nothing much you  _can_ do."

Tali exhaled, "I know, its just so-"

"Painful?" Marcus finished for her, nodding solemnly, "Yeah. I know that feeling. But you soldier on; that's what we do. Admirals, marines, the standard captain...we all just soldier on. If we don't, then who will?"

"Yeah, I guess you're right," Tali sniffed once more, "Besides, I can be happy knowing you're here. I'm sure Shala will recover; she always has been a tough woman."

"I don't doubt it," Marcus chuckled, trying to inject some humor into the melancholic silence, "To put up with Gerrel, Koris and Xen? Takes alot of resilience. Alot of personal will. If there's anyone who can move on, mourn and continue on, its your aunt. She can handle yourself. She's old enough to have encountered this stuff before."

"Yeah," Tali replied lamely, laughing weakly before they both went silent, and it allowed familiar thoughts to creep into Marcus' mind. Shala losing her husband...it reminded him of what he wanted to do before it was too late.

He knew he wanted this; he knew he wanted to spend the rest of his life with her, and he knew she relayed the same feelings. He also hadn't told her about Mordin's children experiment, which gave him two sided motivations. Everything that could possibly want; but out of all of them, he wanted to make their union official. He wanted them to be married. To charge into battle against the Reapers as husband and wife. He didn't want to live with regrets.

He knew she felt the same way.

The box in his pocket demanded attention. He couldn't ignore it much longer. But the thoughts that swirled around in his head made him think harder. The death of Shala's husband, is that what brought these thoughts out? These sudden, desperate, last minute thoughts? With the Collectors gone, could it be done? When Shala's unionmate died, he had at least died content. What if Tali or himself died, and they lived with regrets? Could he make that mistake?

No. He couldn't. He wouldn't die with regrets. Neither of them would.

The moment was perfect, he quickly realized. Here, in the Starboard Observation Lounge, both of them in space, which had served as a home for both of them. And they were on the Normandy; the frigate becoming something of a home for them over the time they had served on it. This very spot was the perfect place to do it in.

He was nervous. He didn't know how to tell her, but he knew he wanted to. That he  _had_ to. He coughed, clearing his throat. Slowly, and gradually, he turned to face the quarian that was pressed up against him, hugging him protectively, slender arms squeezing his chest. Two beacons of light serving as eyes as they hid behind her purple opaque mask, but he knew she was content as she looked out into space. Her beautiful purple veil, covered in multiple swirls and different patterns. Her petite form wrapped up in a black skin-tight suit. It was simply beautiful; she was simply beautiful. He pictured her face behind the mask.

_I'll never find a better woman. I couldn't have picked better. Yes, I want this._

He grabbed one of Tali's hands gently and kissed the back of it, smiling. She frowned behind her mask, turning to look at him, "Is there something wrong, Marcus?"

He inhaled and exhaled, trying to calm his fueled breathing as one hand fiddled with hers, interlacing with her three-fingers, while his eyes met Tali's, "Tali, I have to tell you something. Its incredibly important. I fear that if I don't say it now, we might never get a chance. The Reapers are coming, and our chances of stopping them are pretty low..."

She shook her head and placed her head against his chest, searching for his heartbeat, "If there's anyone who can stop them, its you..."

"I know. But we might not come back from this. None of us might," Marcus cooed, a tear streaking down his cheek, "One of us, or maybe both of us, might die. I don't...I don't want to die regretting never having told you or asked you this Tali. I'd forever hate myself. I just...I need you to know."

"You won't die," Tali gripped onto his chest possessively, "You won't. I won't let you."

"Please Tali," Marcus whispered, "Let me say this. I need this."

Tali gave a sigh of defeat, letting her hand drop from his chest as she looked back up at him, eyes locking with his. She raised the dropped hand and used a thumb to wipe the tears from his face, knowing this had to be incredibly hard for him. He could practically tell she was also tearing up, the idea of one of them dying in the coming war too painful to bear; they didn't want to die. They wanted a life together. But you didn't always get what you wanted; and the good guys never got what they deserved.

After a moment of precious silence, Tali let her hand drop and bumped her forehead against the side of his head, her voice laced with honey and reflective melancholy, "Okay..."

She smiled weakly, planting a soft kiss on the top of her hood before pulling away and twisting in the seat to face her, his forehead bumping against her visor as they never broke eye contact, his hands now cradling both of hers as he tried to summon the courage to tell her. He inhaled and exhaled, feeling heat rise to his cheeks, but he pushed it away, not wanting to ruin the moment. After a moment, he spoke.

"Tali, I may have told you a million times how much you mean to me, but I need to say it again," he gulped, almost choking on his words, fresh tears threatening to burst forth, "I love you Tali. I mean it. I've tried my best to prove it to you at every turn; I've treated you equally, I've waited patiently for you to prepare for our lovemaking, and when we did, I tried to be gentle, to make the moment special for you; make it surreal. I've watched you for a long time Tali; you're a quarian, and many people hate your people, but you stood strong against them. You never gave in. But on the inside and away from combat, you're a shy girl who loves a man but feels nervous to express it. That's why I love you; you're so selfless."

Tali smiled meekly behind her mask, and it was contagious, a smile of his own popping up as Tali squeezed his hands tighter, "I could round off how many times you've been there for me, and I could tell you all the reasons I fell in love with my quarian engineer, but why would I? You already know all that. Tali, I'm here today because you're incredibly important to me. Losing you would be like having my heart torn out. And when this war arrives...I fear...I fear I won't be there to protect you when they finally take you from me. I want to be, as I know you want to for me, but I know when it comes down to it, I might need to choose the needs of the galaxy over that of the one I love the most."

Tali nodded slowly, understanding his need to be selfless, but Marcus only felt a pang of guilt. But it made his next sentence easier. A hand released hers and cupped her chin, turining her to face him again, and his smile somewhat grew as she focused solely on him, "You mean the universe to me, and I've proved that so many times. But there's only one time that truly matters. One time that truly encompasses the love I feel for you. I want to live with you forever, Tali'Zorah vas Normandy. I don't want to charge into battle with you as a simple girlfriend and boyfriend fling. I want us to be recognized. I want us to be whole."

With one, final, nervous gulp, he released her and stood up, turning back to face her, looking down at her with a determined gaze. She gave a confused cock of the head before placing one knee on the ground, kneeling as a hand slowly fumbled in his pocket, locating the box and grabbing hold of it in a death grip.

_This is it. No turning back now._

Together, both of them, unified.

One soul. One heart. One being.

It all felt so generic and cliche. It felt so romanticized.

He didn't care. Fuck what others thought. He wanted her and only her. And the galaxy be damned if they didn't like it.

_Heh...that's a kick right in the face for the asari._

With one final exhale, he raised the box in his palm, and thrusted it forth, bringing it to bear infront of Tali. He opened it, the golden ring inside flashing in the light of the room. Tali still looked confused, but when she met his eyes and heard the eyes, she instead chuckled halfheartedly, completely shocked by it, and overly enjoyed as well.

"Tali'Zorah vas Normandy," he said with pure confidence, "Will you marry me?"

She cried out in pure euphoria, leaping to her feet, pratically shouting, "Y-y-YES! YES! YES I. WILL. MARRY. YOU!"

Without a single thought, she leapt forth, wrapping him in a tight embrace as her momentum sent them tumbling backwards onto the ground, Marcus lying on his back while Tali lay ontop of him, hugging him tightly with a loving embrace, her warmth felt even through the suit. She took off her mask and locked her lips with his, moaning as tongues locked and danced in each other's mouths passionately. They broke only for air, and lay there, smiling at each other, tears collecting. They had finally done it. Phase Two in their lives together; they were going to get married.

With a grin, he plucked the ring from the box and took hold of her right hand, pulling it, palm facing him, and planting a kiss on it. Tali smiled happily and both of them watched as he slid the ring onto her middle finger on the left hand, the ring slipping on perfectly. Both of them laughed before embracing once more.

They locked eyes one more time, before Marcus pulled the hood of his newly christened fiance down and kissed her deeply, with as much passion as he could. They broke for breath, Tali with a sultry grin.

"Shall we 'celebrate' this new event in our quarters?" Tali asked, licking her lips seductively.

He grinned evilly. He didn't need to be told twice.

**"I didn't see that coming to be honest. All I could think about was the murder of Shala's husband, Byp."**

**\- Tali'Shepard pav Rannoch.**

**"Certainly became the happiest day of our lives though, didn't it?"**

**\- Marcus Shepard.**

**"It certainly did."**

**\- Tali'Shepard pav Rannoch.**

_**A/N:** _

_**That's right; Tali and Shepard Wedding Chapter will be coming soon, although it won't be for at least a few chapters. The plot does demand its presence in the story, afterall, and as crucial as the wedding is, so is the Shadow Broker, Omega's occupation and the Arrival.** _

_**The next chapter will be mostly fluff, but also a larger focus on the, what you might see as neglected, Peta sub-plot. Yes, the resolution of Peta's battle to gain Tali's love is coming to a conclusion; you won't be disappointed by the climax. No, he won't go out in spectacular light; there will be no final boss fight between Peta and Shepard (talk about easy!?) but there will be a satisfying end to Peta's advances.** _

_**Until next time!** _


	20. Harmony In Abundance

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kenson realizes a big decision awaits her. Aria escapes Petrovsky, and tries to retake Omega. Peta asks to join Shepard's crew.

**REQUIEM**

**CHAPTER NINETEEN:**

**HARMONY IN ABUNDANCE**

_November 4, 2185_

_1406 hours._

_Project Control, Project Base, Project Asteroid, Bahak System, Viper Nebula._

_Chief Scientist Amanda Kenson._

Never had an asteroid field spooked her so much. Kenson was largely unafraid of everything; having seen all the galaxy had to offer. She was a woman devoted to science, and was a strong patriot of the Systems Alliance, of Terra, and humanity. Nothing caused enough fear in her to have her surrender that duty.

Until now.

The Bahak System's asteriod field, which stretched across the first ring of the system, was one of the largest in existence. Asteriods of all sizes could be found, and it was hypothesized that the field was so large due to one planet orginally having occupied the ring had exploded and its debris now littered the debris field. Kenson didn't care, she was only here to do what was important; preserve the galaxy's future.

With a sigh and a stretch of her tired limbs, Kenson leaned forward over the console, eyes peering down at the schematics of Project Base; the newly formed headquarters of The Project. It was by no means small; the asteriod was kilometers in length, and Project Base covered an entire kilometer of the spacebound rock. The base had a fully operational command center, known as Project Control, a laboratory, med bay, multiple living spaces, a lounge, a reactor and multiple stories of other facilities. With the help of everyone, they had finished the base in three days; it was largely blocks that just needed to be connected.

Project guards were stationed all over the bases, along with other scientists, who were currently examining the artefact that currently occupied the central reception area, along with the crew of the Ground Zero, which was currently docked with the base. The Ground Zero would go to and from the system to gather supplies, and Kenson and the rest of The Project team were just hoping that the Hegemony didn't get suspicious.

The artefact located deep in the asteroid, titled 'Object Rho' by the scientists who looked upon it, was not of any species known; not even Prothean. Instead, judging by the design, especially when compared with Sovereign, they learnt it was actually of Reaper origin, and had been sitting there for millions of years, undisturbed. And, just like they picked up on the Ground Zero, Object Rho would release a pulse of white energy every three minutes, which for some reason, seemed to give everyone on the base headaches simultaneously. But every time it pulsed, only one image appeared in their minds.

It was the Reaper fleet, with Harbinger at the front, flanked by two smaller Reapers known as Vanguard and Oblivion. It was vast; hundreds of vessels, possibly thousands, of varying sizes, shapes and purpose. There was so many. But all Kenson saw was what they were heading for; travelling through vast black nothingness, the only light being their galaxy in the background, and the Reaper fleet's destination; a pulsing blue relay.

The Alpha Relay.

From there on, they all knew it was a race against time. The artefact had sent them a warning, and they had to follow it or their would be no galaxy to protect. The scientists had later learned that the pulse is a countdown; the time between pulses will decrease as the Reapers get closer to the relay; and closer to destroying their galaxy. And once the pulses continued relentlessly with no stops inbetween; then you knew the Reapers had arrived. They could not let that happen.

With another sigh, something of which she was doing alot of lately, she flicked through the schematics and began reading the plan for stopping the Reapers. It was drastic, and the Hegemony would deem it bordering on a terrorist action, but there was not much they could do; the Alpha Relay had to be destroyed, plain and simple. They were tough, but not invincible, and the people of The Project had found one possible way.

They had no weapons of mass destruction on them, and even those probably wouldn't work anyway, so that left one option; they had to ram an asteroid into the relay, hoping that the momentum, force and sheer size of the rock would pulverize the relay, effectively crippling or destroying it, and stopping the Reaper attempt to enter their galaxy. Of course, that will cripple the system's transportation system and cut off the Viper Nebula from the rest of the galaxy, but there was no other option.

The chosen asteroid for this task was the one they currently stood on; when the time came, the fusion torches would be activated and they would set a course for the relay, before evacuating to the Ground Zero, taking off, and going through said relay before its destruction. It was risky, but it might just work. They were running out of time. The Arrival was coming; she could feel it. They all felt it.

"Ma'am, you should take a break," Williams advised over to her left, "You've been working nonstop since 0636 hours. Have someone else cover your shift."

Kenson smiled weakly, looking at the soldier standing there, vindicator assault rifle in his grip, helmet covering his features, the man standing clad in black armor. She rubbed the tiredness from her eyes, and inhaled, before exhaling, "I wish I could Williams; but we have to make sure this is perfect. To screw this up could mean the damnation of the entire galaxy. The Reapers cannot be allowed through that relay."

"I know," Williams replied, wincing as he raised a hand to his helmet, trying to rub at the headache that seemed to annoy him so much, "But noone will be able to stop them if you die of exhaustion. Take a rest, have Deala cover."

Kenson laughed, "Deala? She'll have us plotting a course for the Widow Relay if I put her in charge! No Williams, I must be the one to do this. Why don't you get some rest? You've been standing there an awful long time, and I really don't think I'm in need of protection."

"Fair enough," she heard the marine yawn, "It is almost time for my shift to end anyway. I'm going to catch forty winks and then come back. See you doctor."

"Have a nice sleep Williams," Kenson waved at him, watching as the marine spun on the spot and left, the thud of his boots clicking on the polished steel floor getting more and more distant before the sound was finally cut off by the sound of door closing. All became silent except for the beeping of numerous consoles and Kenson braced herself against the working terminal, hunched over the information streaming in before her.

She hadn't told anyone yet; but there was going to be one, unintended side effect of destroying this mass relay. Forget the fact that they were destroying a major 'prothean' artefact and cutting off Hegemony transportation to the Viper Nebula, but she had done her readings on the amount of eezo stored in mass relays. There was thousands of megatons worth of the substance, and to have it explode...

Kenson gulped at the readings; the  _explosion..._

...it was equivalent to that of a supernova. So if Kenson and the people of The Project rammed this asteroid into the Alpha Relay, not only would they be destroying it, but they would create a supernova that would destroy everything within millions of kilometers of the blast radius. Asteroids.  _Planets._ Even  _Bahak itself._

The entire Bahak System would cease to exist.

She thought of all those batarians living on Aratoht, whether in prisons or not. All those children, all those families, terrorist or not terrorist, slaver or not slaver, prisoner or not prisoner... _three hundred thousand batarians..._

All annihilated. All blasted into atoms. All because of the destruction of  _one_ relay.

The implications of it all had hit Kenson like a rocket. They would have to murder thousands just to stop the Reapers, and why? What's the point? They'll arrive eventually anyway! What's the point of exterminating thousands if it'll only delay the Reaper invasion? What, give the galaxy more time? To do what? To continue their delusions before play time is over? What's the point of delaying the inevitable?

Because it gives Shepard more time to draw evidence.

She slammed her fist against the console, the numbers running through her head.  _Three Hundred Thousand. Three Hundred Thousand. Three Hundred Thousand. Three Hundred Thousand. Three Hundred Thousand. Three Hundred Thousand._

Again and again, like the tick of a clock. All she had to do was press a button. One button would choose the fate of three hundred thousand innocents. Of course, she could try and warn the colony; tell them to evacuate immediately, but what would the Hegemony do? They don't care about their citizens; they'd most likely leap on the opportunity to arrest everyone involved with the Project had execute them. Warning the Hegemony would be pointless, and even if they could evacuate the colony without them, it would take too much time. Time they didn't have.

Why did Hackett have to choose her for this mission? Why not someone else? Shepard was better suited to these kind of decisions. He'd know what to do. He was an artist at decisions. But instead here she was; Amanda Kenson, the Decider of Fate. Three hundred thousand lives put in her hands, and all she had to was ball those hands into fists and crush them; all to stop the Reapers.

_We kill each other just to delay what's already coming. Is this what the previous cycles were like?_

No, because they didn't see the Reapers coming until it was too late. This cycle had a fighting chance. They had to make the most of it.

_If three hundred thousand must die so trillions may live, then that's a choice we should be willing to make. Not out of joy, but out of necessity. It has to be done. For the good of all life, they must be sacrificed for the greater good. Shepard would understand._

She pushed herself away from the console, turning towards the door and moving towards it.  _When this is over Hackett, you owe me a drink. All those lives lost; I'll need a bottle to drown out the screams of each one._ And as her hand hit the haptic interface of the door before her, and she made her way through it, she choked out a sob, a tear streaking down her cheek.

The numbers were merciless.

_Three Hundred Thousand. Three Hundred Thousand. Three Hundred Thousand. Three Hundred Thousand. Three Hundred Thousand. Three Hundred Thousand._

Three Hundred Thousand.

**{Loading...}**

_November 4, 2185_

_1406 hours._

_The Brig, Killmanjaro-Class Dreadnought CAW Elbrus HA-2, Asteroid Belt Around Omega, Sahrabarik System._

_War for Omega._

_Ruler of the Terminus Aria T'Loak._

Aria's world was a hazy mess. Every came to her in a blur, waves of light and darkness combating to gain control of her senses, but light easily winning now. And as Aria's world came to, she began to see more. Gold and white coloured walls, polished to perfection to be nice and shiny and new looking, but for some reason, the asari only felt seering hatred and anger at seeing them. Why was that?

She shook her head, trying to raise a hand to rub one of her eyes, but found that she couldn't; a matter of fact, she couldn't raise either of them. As everything came to focus, she could see that she was standing up; how she had been unconscious and standing was beyond her at first, but as she looked around, she soon came to understand.

She was in one of the cells in the Elbrus' brig, and Petrovsky had her chained up tight. As she looked to her sides, she could see that the reason she couldn't raise her arms or even move them was because they were paralyzed; two cylinder like devices were closed around each arm in a vice, only retractable by command code. She growled as she tried to summon her biotics; but only got a blood nose for her troubles.  _Fuck. Not only are they chains, but biotic dampeners. I can't use my biotics._

She looked down to see similiar devices locked around her legs, but these were bolted to the floor. Only her head could move, and that didn't sit well with her. Aria was completely powerless.  _Petrovsky, that scheming motherfucker. When I get out of here, I'm going to tear him a new one. But first I have to get to Omega. How long have I been out?_

The bright light in the brig was blinding her; or was that due to weary eyes? Fuck, she wished she could rub them to get rid of the soreness. She examined the room, but all she saw was one door infront of her, and the four walls around her, all sporting the gold and white of Cerberus, along with their golden eyesore of a logo.

To her knowledge, there was no guards, which would make her eventual escape attempt all that much easier. She desperately looked around the cell as she tried to locate a route for escape, but she turned up nothing.  _Damn it! I need to get the fuck out of this place so I can reap retribution on these assholes! Goddess knows what they're doing to_ _ **my**_ _station._

Her arms began to ache, her body held in a T like shape by the restraints, and she eventually just gave up, unable to summon her biotics. Just as she did however, a familiar voice came over the intercom, and she felt herself snarl in barely contained rage.

"I see you're up Aria," Petrovsky monotoned, the usual emotionless tone omnipresent, "I didn't think a simple sedative could ever put someone to sleep for such a long period."

"I'll fucking rip you apart  _General_ ," Aria hissed, "First off, how long was I out?"

"I see no reason to answer your questions," the general replied, pausing for a second, as if contemplating what to say, "I always see no reason  _not_ to answer them, so very well. The date is November 4."

Aria's eyes widened, "I've been unconscious for a whole day?" She left no emotion play through her voice; she wouldn't give the Cerberus general that satisfaction.

"Yes, and we've been able to do quite alot in that space of time," Petrovsky informed her, "While you were sleeping, the rest of the twenty adjutant infested vessels were able to sneak by your distracted fleet and land on the lower sections of Omega. It would seem they are no longer following our commands anymore." She noticed a hint of defeat in his voice, and she grinned evilly.

"Good. I hope you get fucking infected, Petrovsky," Aria spat, "Ashe too. And the rest of your fleet. I hope you all burn. It'll teach you to try and take my station from  _me_."

"Oh, have no worry," Petrovsky reassured her, "My fleet arrived in time to destroy a large percentage of the enemy vessels before they could land; only five landed."

"Oh, but its like you said Petrovsky," Aria murmured, her smug grin always there, "One adjutant is all that's needed, remember? You've got quite an infestation on your hands. You want this station so bad? Now try and take it."

Petrovsky, as always, showed no signs of being provoked, "You'll remember that Omega is  _your_ station as well, Aria. Its fall rests on both our heads."

That shut Aria up, as the grin dropped from her face. But before she could think of anything else, Petrovsky spoke up once more.

"I always thought it my duty to inform you that your 'fleet' exists no more," the general explained, "The adjutant vanguard had weakened it proportionately, and they were never a match for fully-armed warships, so my fleet made short work of them. Some fled, but they won't be able to regroup into a sizable force, so Cerberus now rules space. I have ships stationed at the relay to monitor traffic, and I am currently in orbit of Omega, watching as my troops deploy all over Omega. We are avoiding the lower areas and sectioning them off to keep the Adjutants under quarantine, but its only a tiny portion."

He paused for a moment to let this information sink in for Aria before he added the finishing blow, "Your lieutenants, Anto and Bray, I believe they were called? They are currently leading what's left of your forces in a bitter final battle, but Colonel Ashe assures me they will fall eventually. Preitor Gavorn was killed; a pity, as he did die bravely, but his sacrifice was ultimately pointless. Omega will be ours, Aria. As far as the Illusive Man and I are concerned, it has already fallen."

Aria widened her eyes, "What...how the hell did...Ashe is in cuffs..."

A sigh came over the comm, "We wanted him put in custody as part of our plan...we planned on it. Ashe broke free as soon as we took you beyond the relay, and killed everyone in Omega Control; we now control all of Omega's systems, but it would seem your Anto escaped. Its only a matter of time before Omega falls, Aria."

Aria let out a drawn out, barely audible hiss, "This isn't fucking over...until its fucking  _over_."

"Precisely what Ashe thought. That's you and I differ unfortunately; where myself and Ashe become entirely different men," Petrovsky coughed, "Unlike him, or you, I am not willing to sacrifice innocent civilian lives so I can win. Your continued resistance will end in the deaths of thousands of innocent lives. I will not allow that. But Ashe, and apparently you, harbor no such greviances, it would seem."

 _Just like Nyreen. If your moral compass is so fucking paragade, then why release adjutants on the station?_ "Oh, so the general suddenly cares about 'collateral damage?' Well 'woe is you.' If you're so fucking perfect, then why release all those adjutants on the station, hmmm?"

That gave Petrovsky pause. When he responded, it was followed by the unmistakable sound of a gulp, "That was...the Illusive Man's plan, not mine. I suggested we take the station via direct assault; your forces would never have held out against ours; the usual plan, just with sleeper agents instead of adjutants. The Illusive Man wouldn't listen, and used my care towards my men against me to get me to agree to such a tactic. But I do believe I can minimize losses." The general sounded unsure of himself.

Aria was shocked.  _Am I talking to a Cerberus general or what? I thought they were all human supremacists, but not only did this guy respect me and even agree to Ashe's imprisonment, but he seems to care about the people of Omega...just like Nyreen did._ "Its not working out, is it?" she spat.

Petrovsky showed no anger, "It can. The Illusive Man may be ruthless an idealistic, but his plan did not come without continegency. He made sure our occupation forces would be able to deploy force fields; they are a new form of barrier developed from Reaper tech that creates a barrier of solid orange energy that incinerates anything trying to pass it. They'll be set up all over Omega. Even the Adjutants can't get past it; which will be the station's saving grace."

"Can't you just vent those levels that are infested?" Aria asked, "Blow the fuckers into space?"

"Omega's designers did not plan for a infestation of this magnitude Aria," Petrovsky seemed to admonish, "All systems are linked; to open one airlock is open every airlock on the station. We could evacuate, but we'd never gain control of the situation again and there's just too many people to account for, not to mention those stuck in the Adjutant areas. For now we have sealed off all levels in that area from the rest of the station; they'll hold until the barriers can be set up. They are mostly centralized in the mining sector."

Aria sighed, "Anything else you'd like to gloat about while I'm trapped here?"

"I do not gloat Aria. Gloating is for fools like Ashe," the Cerberus officer dictated, sighing, "I'm merely giving you facts. You should also know that the only real resistance being posed now is by your forces and whatever pockets of Blue Suns, Blood Pack and Eclipse still exist. All the minor forces have either fled or been wiped out. But if this keeps up, innocents will be caught in the crossfire. Put an end to this Aria, for all our sakes, and yours. Admit defeat."

_Admit defeat...? Who the fuck do you think you are?_

_He didn't mention the Talons. He didn't mention Nyreen. Maybe they're all safe? And what about Sata? Should I mention any of them? No. Keep the Talons a secret; they might be useful for when I get off this ship and back on Omega. But what about Sata? The more I keep her a secret, the more likely Ashe will find and kill her on sight..._

"If I admit defeat...what about my daughter? Sata?" Aria asked, voice low.  _What the fuck are you doing?_

Petrovsky seemed unsurprised by this, "The Illusive Man did mention a Sata T'Loak. He said to use her as leverage if you refused to cooperate, but I am not that kind of man. Unfortunately, Ashe is, so I'm glad you brought her up. What about your daughter?"

"If I surrender...will she be safe?"

Petrovsky thought over this for a minute before responding, "Yes. Ashe will disapprove, but I am done past caring about the trivialities of my subordinates. I will guarantee your daughter's safety if you surrender."

Aria thought long and hard. Could she really choose Omega over her own flesh and blood?  _That station was my life...it is my life. Everything about it; shaped to be how I wanted it. Its people, by pirates, Afterlife...my home...everything about it is my essence. To lose it...it would be like losing a precious lover...it'd be like losing Nyreen, as much as I hate to admit it...and to sacrifice it to Cerberus just to ensure the life of my daughter..._

And Sata already hates you enough...why not send her to the grave hating you even more for abandoning her just so you could continue to fight for a station that's already lost?

 _Fuck you Petrovsky. Fuck you Ashe. Fuck you Illusive Man. Fuck you Cerberus. I'll make you all pay for this._ "Tell your forces...to withdraw. I surrender."

There was silence over the line, long, painful silence, and it tore Aria apart.  _Everything I fought to protect...gone. All for one little, fucking asari. She'd better be worth it...Damn you Nyreen, why did you have to get me pregnant?_

Having sex with a turian had ultimately lead to the loss of that which was most precious to her.

_Could I hate and love Nyreen even more?_

"You made the right choice Aria," Petrovsky replied, "The respectable choice. I will ensure that Ashe pulls his men out immediately. I will make sure the people of Omega know that you were responsible for putting an end to a conflict that could have ended with their deaths."

_Yeah...let them know their ruler and protector abandoned them...I will fucking kill you Petrovsky. I swear it. This is far from over. You've won the battle, but you haven't won the war. Its only just beginning._

"I don't want your thanks Petrovsky," Aria spat, looking lazily down at the ground, "I just want you to fucking die. And my daughter, too."

Seemingly out of nowhere, Petrovsky chuckled, "Aria, for all our differences, I can positively say that you are the most arrogant woman I've ever known. And that...that is respectable in my books. I may have won this game today, but I believe my king will be taken down one day...maybe by you, or Shepard, or maybe anyone. But one...I'll meet my match."

"How poetic of you," Aria deadpanned.

"I must go Aria. I have orders to relay," the general told her, "However, someone would like to speak to you. I'm patching him through. Also, I believe I owe you one more favor."

"What?" Aria asked, but just as she finished asking the question, she heard a beeping and whirring of machinery. Just as she turned to the source of the sound, the restraints on her arm disengaged and they fell limply to her side, followed by her leg restraints. She fell to her knees, body aching from the twenty-four hours of being held still. She felt biotic essence flow back into her body, but her abilities didn't flare up.

She looked up and surprised herself, "T-t-thank you."

_Thank you for letting me free. Thank you for allowing me the chance to rip your throat out._

But Petrovsky's voice didn't respond. No, instead this one was far too familiar for her liking, "Aria, it would seem Petrovsky's chivalry has gotten the better of him. But from what I hear, it doesn't matter. I'm glad you took the more intelligent path in releasing Omega into our grasp. It has made life easier for both sides."

Aria's eyes filled with hatred as she peered at the man on the vidscreen, cigar in one hand and glass of whiskey in another, sitting patiently and calmly in his chair on some far away space station, peering at her with calm, synthetic eyes.  _The Illusive Man himself._

"What a pleasant surprise," Aria spat, weakly getting up to her feet, "I didn't expect to meet King Motherfucker himself. Come to gloat some more? Like I need to be reminded of what I've lost even more, asshole."

The Illusive Man seemed to sigh, unimpressed by Aria's bravado, "I came to congratulate you, Aria. But if you must speak like a impudent, immature child, then I believe we have nothing more further to discuss. I just want you to know that any attempts to try and retake Omega after this, or any actions against Cerberus in general, will result in the death of your daughter. I will not do it out of joy, but out of necessity. I cannot have you hampering my operations, as you must understand."

She hissed.  _Using my daughter against me? What happened to the old Illusive Man who was willing to make a compromise? What happened to the idealistic asshole? When did he become a total monster using people for his own gains? What the fuck changed?_ She snorted.  _Like I give a shit what he is or once was. The asshole's got my station by the throat._

It was then that she remembered who she was, the Illusive Man's droning continuing in the background, becoming nothing more than noise as her thoughts echoed long and loud. She was Aria fucking T'Loak, the Ruler of the Terminus, and she didn't get to this position without being the most ruthless pirate bitch in the galaxy. She murdered, destroyed and annihilated those who got in her way, and those who lived to tell the tale remembered her name for what it was; they remembered her as the Queen of the Terminus Systems.

They knew her as  _the_ Omega.

Because she  _was_ Omega.

And she was going to bend the knee to some old human in a fucking chair? What the fuck was she doing? She wasn't going to leave her daughter in Cerberus hands; she was going to do what she always did. She would take what was hers,  _by force._ Or she'd fucking die trying.

Her body glowed with liquid fire, newfound energy flowing through her blue asari form. This shut the Illusive Man up, who looked at her through the vidscreen with a raised a eyebrow. She smiled evilly, and shook her head, allowing herself to laugh sadistically as she visualized tearing him  _apart a_ s the calm fucker begged for mercy. But first up was Petrovsky. Then Ashe. Then it was his turn.

"Aria, any action against Cerberus will result in your daughter's death," the Illusive Man seemed to growl, but she couldn't be certain, "Do not force my hand. I never bluff."

"You want my daughter?" Aria roared, forming a biotic flare in her palm. She snapped one final look at the calm, unfazed form of the seated leader of Cerberus before giving one final smirk, "Then come and fucking  _ **get her**_."

Her palm shot forward, a lance of biotic light smashing through the vidscreen and slamming into the cell's door. The vidscreen shattered, with the Illusive Man's calm face disappearing before a thunderous boom rocked through the ship as her biotic flare blew the doors from their hinges and sent them flying across the corridor. Grinning like a maniac, she stepped through the carnage she had created, and out into the empty corridor of the Elbrus. She was  _free_. And soon, her station would be  _free._

She turned right and watched two assault troopers rush towards her, molten death erupting from their avenger assault rifles. They impacted harmlessly on Aria's biotic barrier before she then dropped it, and sent a reave into one trooper, before biotically charging into the second. The sounds of hundreds of bones cracking went echoed through the corridor like a orchestra, the body shooting away like a rocket to slide across the floor, dead, assault rifle pulverized from the force of Aria's impact.

The second trooper fell to the ground shortly after, gold and white armor sopping in red blood that pooled onto the floor and stained the polished floors. She picked up the trooper's assault rifle and continued to fight her way through the dreadnought and towards the bridge.

The battle towards it was mediocre; most of the ship's combatants were on Omega, fighting to take it and holding back the hordes of adjutants released on it. So for Aria, that meant she was able to reach the bridge in a matter of no time.

The main set of doors leading onto the bridge blew apart, and everyone turned towards her, fear in their eyes. She ignored them however as she dropped her rifle and focused on one man alone; Petrovsky.

Despite everything, the man only looked slightly  _annoyed_ by her presence; completely unconquerable by fear. She didn't care though; she only wanted him to die. She latched a biotically powered hand around the wrist diving for his sidearm, twisting it so he dropped the Paladin pistol before twisting his arm behind his back, turning his body towards his crew and allowing her to wrap an arm around his neck, pulling him backwards towards her, where she leaned into his ear.

"You should have kept me locked up," Aria hissed into his ear, preparing to snap his neck...

"Aria, wait!" Petrovsky yelled, seemingly desperate, "If you kill me, you won't get to Omega."

Aria snorted, "I'll just keep killing people until they finally do as their told and navigate towards it. They don't need you."

"The ship does. The VI does," Petrovsky dictated, "You kill me, and the VI's programmed to detonate the ship's drive core. A captain always goes down with his ship."

"You're lying," Aria hissed, "You're doing this to save your own life."

"I would never be so pathetic. And why would I want to preserve my own life?" The man asked, "I have no wife to go back to, and no children who'll miss me. My parents have long since been dead, and I have no relatives I know of. I have nothing worth living for, so what's the point? My job is to preserve the lives of others, and in failing that, die for them. What do I gain by not dying?"

"Continuing to fight," Aria growled back, "Continuing to fight me."

"If I die Aria, this ship goes with me, along with all its crew," the general responded, "Including you. I'm offering you a chance to land on Omega; are you willing to assume I'm lying and take the risk of this ship killing you? Who will protect your daughter then? Without me, there'll be noone to keep Ashe in line, and the Illusive Man certainly won't care of some asari's life."

Aria thought about what he said before letting out a final, defeated snarl. "Fine! Order your men to set a course for Omega; I don't care what dock, just nowhere near or in the Quarantine Zone. Do it!"  _You live now, Petrovsky. But when we reach Omega, I'll have no use for you. How useful will Cerberus' little party here be if I cut off the head? Then Ashe will be next; I'll kill that smug piece of shit._

Aria watched as Petrovsky gave the orders and the dreadnought sped towards Omega, locking onto a random dock and moving to board it. They reached it in a couple of minutes, and the dreadnought quickly docked with the station, Aria so focused with the station, that she ignored Petrovsky as she held him.

Once docked, she dragged the Cerberus general with her and out of the airlock. She dragged him through one of the dock's corridors before coming to a stop outside, smiling grimly as she forced Petrovsky onto his knees, raising her avenger to the back of his head with a large smile, "I told you I'd fucking kill you, Petrovsky. I don't bluff."

"No, but you should keep a better eye on your prisoners," Petrovsky mumbled, head moving up and into the barrel of her weapon as his eyes looked up, the whir of engines heard getting closer as Aria looked up to see what he was looking at. She was unable to hear his last sentence however, "Especially when they send a distress signal."

The engine sound was suddenly ontop of them, and a A-67 Mantis Gunship, flying Cerberus' colors, landed to hover above them chin-mounted gun lowered over Aria's form. She ditched her avenger and stood back, raising a biotic barrier to defend herself, but nothing came. Looking around, she watched a Centurion, followed by two nemeses, one phantom, ten assault troopers and two guardians land on the ground, all turning to face her, followed by another figure, wearing the armor of a centurion. And to her chagrin, five dragoons dropped down next to him as well. Two Atlases dropped from the sky, landing behind the main force, the motors in their legs twisting ever so slowly as their tremendous bulk spun to face her, heavy 150mm cannons turning to face her. And the figure, standing infront of the group, unarmed, smiled at her. And she recognized him with a snarl.

Colonel Raymond Ashe.

"Thanks for the call for help sir," Ashe spoke, practically yelling over the sound of the gunship hovering overhead, "Couldn't have found Aria without you. Still, I'm surprised she escaped."

"From a woman such as her, expecting foolishness was...illogical," Petrovsky responded getting to his feet and moving towards the Cerberus squad, Aria unable to stop him or shoot him, "It would I was wrong."

"Finally, our soft general admits his flaws," Ashe replied, turning to face Aria with a hiss, "But what shall we do with you?"

"She refuses to give up," the general dictated, turning to face Aria with a look of disappointment, hands clasped behind his back, "She doesn't know when to admit defeat, and that will end in the deaths of thousands. I cannot allow that. Anto already believes her dead, now we need to ensure it stays that way. Colonel..." he glanced at Aria one more time before turning back to Ashe, shaking his head, "Dispose of her."

Ashe whistled with glee, "About time," he turned to his men, "Troopers, open fire!"

Gunfire poured into the space Aria had occupied before and only just narrowly leapt away from. Aria knew her barrier couldn't hold against an assault of that magnitude, and she definitely couldn't take on a force like that, so she knew she had to do what she hated most...she had to flee. Her only hope to save Omega now would be to link up with her forces and devise a counterattack. That, and she had to save Sata.  _Then we'll head into the underground sewerage system. Petrovsky can't send troops down there because it'll be a slaughter house; he'll gain ground eventually, but only after wasting half his forces. He won't risk it; all of which he needs to occupy Omega and keep the adjutants under control._

She saw a manhole nearby and removed the plate, jumping inside just as the gunfire neared her location. As she landed below and continued running, she heard Ashe shouting orders at his men to pursue her, but she knew she'd lost them already; Cerberus soldiers weren't made for running in the dark. She kept running, and all she could think of was how to throw Cerberus off Omega.

Was it even possible by this point?

**{Loading...}**

_November 4, 2185_

_1406 hours._

_Mess Hall, Normandy-Class Stealth Frigate Normandy SR-2, In FTL inbound for the Migrant Fleet, Enoch System, Rosetta Nebula._

_Commander Marcus Lee Shepard, Chief Engineer Tali'Zorah vas Normandy, Master Thief Kasumi Goto, Gunnery Master Garrus Vakarian, Staff Commander Kaidan Alenko, Second Lieutenant Jacob Taylor, Information Broker Liara T'Soni._

Life on the Normandy was the same as always. Nothing much had changed, not even since the beginning of the Shadow Broker's campaign. People went about their usual duties, and nothing really changed. Or so Marcus thought, as he sat there, eating his lunch while looking at his datapad. There were reports coming in of conflict on Omega, but nothing major, and the reports had since stopped coming in suddenly, so there was no more information on that end. Not that Marcus cared; Aria could handle herself.

He peered up from his datapad to look across the table at Tali, who sat on the opposite side and was currently in a very animated conversation with Garrus and Jacob about something, Kaidan simply just listening in casually. Liara sat by herself, next to Marcus, not that she cared; she was far too absorbed in all her datapads and work; far too busy trying to get leads on the Broker and her drell lover, Feron, to be bothered talking to anyone else. But Marcus couldn't care less at the moment; he looked at the ring on Tali's finger that she so desperately tried to hide. He knew Kasumi already knew; if the thief's constant peaking at it was any indication.

Tali didn't seem to notice his glances, but he didn't mind. Multiple thoughts went through his mind; Tali was his fiancee. They were finally going to get married, and he was extremely nervous. How would Shala react to this? How would the entire crew react to this? He knew of Jack's feelings for him, but she seemed to have forgotten about the encounter, instead talking to him normally, as if nothing had happened. But he had no idea how she would feel at the idea of Marcus marrying Tali. It worried him to be honest; would she get hostile and try and hurt Tali? He just didn't know.

Most of all, how would the quarians react? Kal and Madi? Lia? How about the entire quarian fleet? Hell Han'Gerrel, Tali's uncle, didn't even know they were together, let alone getting engaged. How the hell would he tell them?

His musings were broken by an elbow in the side and he spun to see Kasumi sitting next to him, a massive grin on japanese face. He sighed, shaking his head, speaking in a low whisper, "You know, don't you, Kasumi?"

Kasumi pretended to act innocent, bracing herself against the table with her chin leaning on double knuckles, "I have no idea what you're talking about, Shep."

"I think you do," Marcus deadpanned and the young thief sighed in exasperation, leaning back.

"Yeah, well...fine, I do," Kasumi shook her head, making sure noone could hear them as she leaned forward, "You know, I won't be able to call you Shep anymore. I'll have to call both of you Shep; and that won't end well. I'll miss calling Tali a buckethead; I always find it endearing. In my own, racist kind of way. But she likes it, so it can't be too bad, right?"

"Only because you call her that. Anyone else, and I'm sure they'd get the shotgun treatment," Marcus chuckled quietly, turning back to her, done with absent-mindedly playing with his food, "How much do you know Kasumi? Were you watching us the entire time?"

"No," Kasumi replied, her tone serious, "I'm not omnipresent, Shep. I can't be admiring Jacob's abs and watching you propose all at the same time," she sighed, "However, I might have been on the way down from 'admiring the view' when I heard the sound of a quarian yelling 'yes' followed by a few words that sound alot like accepting a proposal. I might have been imagining it though. So, going to spill the beans?"

Marcus sighed, pushing his plate away and putting the datapad in his other hand down before twisting to face the thief, "Might as well; I know you won't leave me alone unless I do. Just one question though; did you end your 'relationship' with Garrus? That was pretty short-lived."

"End?" Kasumi asked, cocking her head, "What makes you say that?"

"You said you were 'admiring' Jacob in the armoury," Marcus deadpanned, rolling his eyes.

Kasumi had an epiphany and giggled softly, "You men are so silly; so, what? Because someone's in a relationship means they can't admire another man's goods? Its not like I'm foddling his junk or anything," Kasumi waved a hand to dismiss his point, "Me and Garrus are still a thing, I think, but we haven't really...developed it anywhere yet."

"I'm not surprised," Marcus replied, smirking, "It was rather...sporadic."

"I'm a sporadic thief," Kasumi winked, "Be happy I didn't jump him there infront of you; which mind you, I was strongly considering."

"I did not just hear th-"

"Back on topic Shep," Kasumi said, holding up a hand to stop anything else he might say, "I don't like to be kept waiting."

"Yes, we're getting married," Marcus told her, rubbing his stubble, "It was a spur of the moment thing. We both know we could die in the coming war, and we don't want to go into battle as a fling. We want it to be official."

"Not what you call romantic, but hey, I never saw you as a romantic archetype," Kasumi giggled again, turning back away with a loopy grin, "Well, good to know Miss Vas Normandy and Mister Dense are finally getting it together. Just so you know, I'm the bridesmaid. No ifs, buts, or maybes. Tali's like a sister to me, and I demand to be there when she finally gets married. You two are perfect, you know that?"

"So I've heard," Marcus deadpanned.

"So Garbear, gonna hand those credits over?" Kasumi shouted, catching the turian's attention. Tali stopped as well, fixing Kasumi with a confused look and Kaidan and Jacob just shook their heads. Liara didn't seem to notice any of it. Suddenly, Tali broke into laughter, followed by Jacob and Kaidan sniggering.

"Kasumi..." Garrus growled, a flush of blue rising to his scaly cheeks, or at least, what looked like a flush, "I swear to the spirits, if you call me Garbear again..."

"Don't get so defensive!" Kasumi waved a hand, "Besides, its better than calling you Care Bear..."

Jacob's laughter turned into a howl as he fell from his chair, tears falling from his cheeks. Kaidan faceplanted into the table as he tried to contain his heaves of mirth, but gained a punch in the shoulder from Garrus in return, who shot Tali a confused glance. He turned to Kasumi, visibly embarassed as he spoke, "So, Kasumi...credits for what?"

"Our bet," Kasumi deadpanned, leaning back, ignoring Marcus' pleas to keep quiet, Tali frowning at her lover, "Shep here finally spilled the good stuff. I. Was. Right!"

Garrus' jaw dropped, moving from Marcus to Tali continously before turning to Kasumi, "What!? But that's...oh come on!"

"Hand 'em over!" Kasumi ordered, "I won fair and square!"

"What's this all about?" Tali asked, still confused as Jacob recovered from his laughter and returned to his feet, Garrus reluctantly pulling out a credit chit and throwing it at the thief, who caught it in her five-fingers, putting it in her pocket with a grin. The turian then proceeded to punch Jacob in the shoulder, only managing to rouse another chuckle from him.

Marcus looked at Tali bregrudgingly, "Kasumi overheard our talk in the Starboard Observation yesterday and obviously made a bet with Garrus," he shot a glare at the turian in question before turning back to Kasumi with the same glare, "One she obviously won."

"Hey, he thought I was making it up," Kasumi defended herself.

Garrus sighed, guilty as charged, "I did. I thought you guys would keep it for when the Reapers are dealt with."

"Yeah, well I can't say I blame you Shepard," Jacob stated, slamming a fist on the table, "Now's the time to do it. There maybe no future after the Reapers; we might all die. Better to die with no regrets then die with a life full of them, if you ask me."

"Wait," Marcus looked at Jacob, eyes wide, "How do you know?"

"Um..." Jacob eyed Garrus, who seemed to be shifting uncomfortably, followed by Kasumi who seemed intent on leaving. When Marcus turned he saw she was gone, cloak activating behind her. Tali, blushing, turned to Garrus with a pure death glare. He gulped.

"I may have told Jacob..." Garrus shifted again, "And Legion...damn it, that geth never knows how to keep its mouth shut..."

"So the whole crew knows," Marcus cursed under his breath, noticing Tali's blush increase; he couldn't see it, but if her mask on the table with hands behind her head was any indication, she was beyond the lines of embarassment.

"Yeah..." Garrus deadpanned, "Everyone knows. But blame Legion! How was I supposed to know that the geth wouldn't-"

"Shepard-Commander," the geth in question spoke, approaching the group, "Our name was mentioned, and in a negative tone that we geth have come to recognize as hostility. Have we done something wrong?"

EDI's voice responded, "Shepard and Tali'Zorah are currently angry at the turn of events that lead to you informing the crew of their intended marriage."

Legion turned to the group, seeming to scan them all with its head flaps before turning to focus its emotionless flashlight gaze on Marcus himself, "An interspecies marriage made little sense to the geth; we do not understand the purpose of a union between two people who cannot provide offspring. However, we deemed it necessary to transfer this information onto the crew to increase unit cohesion. We have also transmitted this information to the geth consensus; we rejoice in this union."

"Wait...you did what?" Tali asked, head shooting up.

Garrus coughed awkwardly, "I tell Jacob, then I tell Legion, and now the entire geth species knows," the turian's right mandible twitched, "That certainly escalated quickly."

"So, have you set a date?" Liara asked out of the blue (no pun intended), eyes turning to face Marcus, "For the wedding, I mean."

Surprised by her sudden interest in the conversation, he turned to face her and shrugged, glancing at Tali in his peripheral vision, "No clue. We still have to tell her aunt and uncle, and I have to tell my mother."  _And Anderson. He may not be my father, but he's as close to one as I've ever had. He won't miss my wedding._

"Well, shouldn't we make preparations?" Liara asked, the old Liara shining through for a moment in time, "The wedding will be held on the Normandy, right?"

"Well, actually..." he glanced at Tali and smiled at her, the quarian raising an eyebrow at him. He turned back, facing Liara, "I was thinking we should hold it on the Rayya; Tali's birth ship."

Tali was suddenly speaking, "The Rayya? Are you sure Marcus?"

"Its where you were born Tali," Marcus gently clenched her hand from across the table, "I want it to also be where you get married."

"T-t-thank y-y-you," Tali choked out, tears of happiness likely fogging up her mask, "You...you have no idea w-what that means to me."

"Believe me, I do," he smiled reassuringly.

"If I understand marriages correctly, this'll take alot of preparation," Jacob pointed out, "And considering you're two different species, how will the marriage go?"

"Well since its based on the Rayya..." Tali responded, playing with her fingers as she eyed Marcus, "Ma-maybe it could be...um...quarian?"

"Maybe it could," Marcus coyly replied, "Actually, I like that. It'll be based on a quarian tradition."

"We have built consensus," Legion sounded, everyone almost having forgotten the geth standing there, "We have surmized that this course of action makes sense for both species, as quarian wedding practises run almost exactly the same as human ones. They involve a husband and a wife, words of devotion and a extravagant ceremony. Quarians view this as a waste of resources, and therefore, weddings are small and few. We have surmized further that the wedding of a hero of the Creator fleet to the hero of humanity would be greatly smiled upon. This action is acceptable."

"The geth approves," Garrus exclaimed happily, "Everything is right with the universe now."

"Talking about wedding practises," he turned to Garrus, "I've got to talk to you in private," he stood up and Garrus did as well, motioning to the gun battery. Before he left however, he turned to Tali and motioned to the lounge, "And Tali, I think Kasumi would like to talk with you."

It wasn't long before he and Garrus were safely locked away in the Gunnery Station, and Marcus turned towards the turian, now leaning against the main console, and sighed.

"What's this about Shepard?" Garrus asked, "I know I did wrong, and I'll make it up-"

"Please Garrus. You're like a brother to me. Just call me Marcus," this seemed to put the turian at ease, and this allowed Marcus to continue, "And I still think you're a bigot for telling Legion of all things, about Tali and I's marriage, but that's not why I brought you here. I need to ask you something."

"Yeah, sure...Marcus," Garrus replied, tasting the word on his alien tongue, "What is it?"

"I don't know if you understand human marriage practises but..." Marcus gulped, inhaling breath, "There's this man that is chosen by the groom...that's me...to stand beside him. He's usually the man's best friend or brother, and in rare cases, the father. They call them the best man...Garrus I...I'd like you to be my best man."

The turian whistled, looking at him with a happy grin, "I'm your best man? Does that sound like what it sounds like to me? Are you admitting that I  _bested_ you."

"Whatever floats your boat Garrus," Marcus chuckled.

They both laughed for a while, before getting their act together, Garrus' smirk disappearing and tone becoming solemn, "I'll be your best man, Marcus. Its an honor to be chosen. I...I just want you to know that...I'm happy for you and Tali. I wish you two the best of lives. And its a privledge to be there as it happens."

He moved forward, arms wide as he locked his turian friend in a tight embrace, both of them laughing as they hugged.

For once, something was going right.

**{Loading...}**

_November 4, 2185_

_1607 hours._

_Docking Cradle 17, Liveship Rayya, Migrant Fleet, Enoch System, Rosetta Nebula._

_Commander Marcus Lee Shepard, Chief Engineer Tali'Zorah vas Normandy, Major General Kal'Reegar vas Normandy, First Lieutenant Madi'Soi vas Ceresa._

The airlock for the Rayya seemed to take longer to cycle than normal; but Marcus could understand why. The attack was most likely still on every quarian's mind, and that were most likely jumpy; he could understand that, and therefore didn't lash out when they finally got out fifteen minutes later. The door slid open to reveal the decon team, but to his surprise, Kar'Danna wasn't there-

Then he remembered. Captain Kar'Danna vas Rayya was dead; murdered by Cerberus, on his own ship.

He sighed heavily, moving into the ship, quietly followed by Tali, Kal and Madi, the attack still on their minds as they moved into the vessel. Tali knew Marcus still blamed himself for the attack, staying it was due to his presence that Cerberus and the Shadow Broker even thought of attacking, and all she could do was reassure him. Hopefully their planned wedding reveal would assuage any bad memories he had of the ship.

They were immediately greeted by Shala who, to their surprise, stood as straight as she always had, nothing in her position giving away any grief she still had over her husband's murder. She greeted Marcus with a hand shake and hugged Tali as normal; but the hug was tighter than normal, and it was then that Tali knew Shala hadn't recovered; she was just being professional for appearence's sake.

"Admiral," Marcus greeted, seemingly noticing Shala's unusual act, "Maybe we should speak in private? This is about me and Tali, but we also came to let you know that we are sorry for your loss, and we will do everything in our power to make sure that your husband's killers are brought to justice. Cerberus will pay, I promise you."

"Thank you commander," Shala replied, thanking him with a slight nod before motioning to a room down the corridor, "If you'll follow me, I'll take you to a private room."

"Commander!" Came a familiar voice, making Tali roll her eyes. Even now, the man wouldn't leave her alone. She really didn't need this.

As they turned, they watched the familiar form of Peta running towards them, the quarian quickly stopped by Kal, the man standing protectively infront of the woman he considered a little sister, with Madi limping over to join him, confused however at why he was hostile towards this seemingly random quarian.

"Its okay Kal," Marcus reassured, laying a reassuring hand on the marine's shoulder, "Let him through."

Kal shot Peta one last suspicious glare, before stepping aside, the quarian moving past to look at Tali, smiling for a second before turning towards Marcus, eyes seemingly less...cheerful, than usual. Marcus clasped his hands behind him, Shala doing the same as she waited.

"What do you want, Peta?" Marcus asked, trying to be as polite as possible.

Peta stood firmer, suddenly more professional in his stance than he had been before, "I've come to ask to join your crew, Captain Shepard."

Marcus raised an eyebrow, surprised by the sudden request. Tali seemed to do the same, equally as shocked. Kal just shot the quarian the same suspicious glare while Madi continued to be confused. Peta just patiently waited for an answer.

"Why?" Marcus finally asked, breaking out of his surprised stupor, wanting answers.

Peta cleared his throat, "I assure you, this has nothing to do with my feelings for Tali. I have learnt my lesson, and am ready to move on. I wish to join your crew because I've read up on these Reapers. They seem like a dangerous threat, and I want to help you put a stop to them. I want to make a difference in the galaxy; not waste my life calibrating consoles in engineering for the rest of my life. I want the quarian people to remember me," he threw a nanosecond glance in Tali's direction before turning back to Marcus, finishing in a sadder tone, "I want to be important for once."

Marcus exhaled, unable to comprehend what he had just heard. This obsessed kid suddenly quits his obsession, comes to his wits and surrenders it all and then asks to join his crew? It seemed harmless enough, and the suspicion was unwarranted; Peta hadn't really done anything to him except harass his quarian fiancee, so why not?

Tali apparently thought the same, nodding her approval. Kal shot him a look that said 'don't trust him,' but Marcus would deal with that later. For now, Peta was asking to join his crew, and he didn't have a valid reason to deny him, "Very well, Mister Yala, we'll see you prove your true colors soon enough. Get your things and get set up on the Normandy; I'll have my XO show you to your sleeper pod and give you the tour."

Peta nodded eagerly, snapping a salute, "I won't let you down!" He then spun around and ran down the corridor towards the airlock into the Normandy, an evidently excited bounce in his step. He nodded to Kal and Madi, before turning to Tali, taking her hand in his and both of them followed Shala down the corridor towards her designated room.

Peta seemed harmless enough.

**"Keelah, how much we didn't know..."**

**\- Tali'Shepard pav Rannoch.**

**"He didn't win. The poor kid, he never won..."**

**\- Marcus Shepard.**

**"The 'poor kid' tried to kill you. But I guess he..."**

**\- Tali'Shepard pav Rannoch.**

**"Let's get back on topic."**

**\- Marcus Shepard.**

**"Of course. Now...what happened next?"**

**\- Tali'Shepard pav Rannoch.**

**"The end days. The Shadow Broker was beginning to work himself into a corner."**

**\- Marcus Shepard.**

_**A/N:** _

_**Holidays started officially today! I might be able to get chapters out faster now if I'm that lucky; alot of movies to see, and alot of work to do, so we'll see what I get time for. I'm aiming to reach Chapter 25 by the end of these holidays, so fingers crossed.** _


	21. Homefield Trap

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Petrovsky offers Aria a humiliating ultimatum. Nobody on the crew is convinced of Peta's sincerity. Liara receives a tip regarding the Broker's possible location.

**REQUIEM**

**CHAPTER TWENTY:**

**HOMEFIELD TRAP**

_November 5, 2185_

_0629 hours._

_Command Center, Aria's Bunker, Tuhi District, Omega._

_War for Omega, Siege of the Tuhi District._

_Ruler of the Terminus Aria T'Loak, Lieutenant Anto Korrigan, Lieutenant Bray._

"Are we clear on that?" Aria growled, barely holding onto the war room terminal as the base once again shook, everyone grabbing hold of something nearby so they could recover from yet another of Cerberus' artillery bombardments. Petrovsky wasn't kidding; Cerberus forces, forty thousand strong, had managed to overrun most of Omega's internal defenses in just a couple of hours, with most of the mercenary forces having escaped Omega or been destroyed. Only Aria's troops were left. A desperate last stand. And even then, still no word from Derius or his Talons.  _No Nyreen either. Damn bitch._

Aria had spent a couple of hours wondering around the station's underground tunnels, and had eventually lost Ashe and his troops. She poked her head up when the coast was clear and retreated into the Tuhi District, which was now the only area not under Cerberus occupation. Afterlife had since fallen to Cerberus troops, Ashe setting up his headquarters inside the fallen bar, clearing the rubble left from her explosives.  _Takes my club, and then uses it as a HQ to spite me. Oh that smug piece of shit will die painfully..._

Aria's Bunker was massive, and she had built it for situations just like this. It was the size of entire skyscraper, covering at least fourteen decks. The main deck had three sections; the forward entrance and courtyard, the Command Center, and then the rear entrance and storage compartment. The forward entrance was closed off by a large, titanium blast door, as was the rear entrance, and was closed off by a retractable bridge, which was now guarded by two rotary heavy anti-material cannons that her forces had stolen from Cerberus and were now being installed.

The rear entrance and storage bay had two old model M-29 Grizzly tanks, with four skycars and crates packed with weapons, old and new. Both of these areas were seperated by the command center, which sat in the middle. In the middle was the war room terminal; a large, circular table with a massive hologram of Omega sitting in the middle, allowing for real-time tactical coordination. Flanked by this were two more consoles. Behind her was the entrance to the bunker's armoury, which in turn then lead off into the Zeta District. Before the armoury entrance was the communications area.

Infront of her was more consoles, followed by the door leading into the Eezo Processing Plant, which was part of the mining sector; which was now crawling with adjutants and abandoned. Overall, Aria's Bunker was heavily fortified and built to withstand heavy punishment, making it the perfect HQ for her repulsion of the Cerberus invasion.

Jarral, her asari fleet 'admiral,' stood on the otherside of the console, a scar healing across her forehead from a narrow escape from her flaming flagship, which had been destroyed with the rest of Aria's fleet when Petrovsky and the Cerberus forces arrived; Jarral, as far as they knew, was the only survivor. Ahz, her salarian technician, stood next to Jarral, rapidly typing at his terminal in bringing in status reports. Anto stood to his right, eagerly awaiting Aria's orders, having relinquished command upon news she was alive. Bray stood on Jarral's left, arms crossed and watching Aria unwaveringly. Moklan stood in the spot that used to belong to Gavorn, who was now dead, and Grizz's spot was empty as well; a testament to the losses she had already sustained.

Anto nodded, "Crystal, Aria. Its risky, but it can be done. And with this bunker so heavily entrenched, this Cerberus General can do little more than bombard us. That Colonel seems alot more rash, but we haven't heard much of him so far, so that's a bonus for your troops. Its allowed me to lead several guerilla-style hit-and-runs against Cerberus emplacements across the Tuhi District. Success has been huge; Cerberus doesn't know what to do with themselves."

"An all-out assault on Afterlife won't work though," Bray informed her, "An all-out assault on...anywhere, won't work. These assholes are entrenched so well that any attack that isn't in the Tuhi District will be futile at best. The best we can do is annoy them."

"Jarral?" Aria asked, sighing at Bray's words.  _And he's right; I mean, Sata may be safe inside this bunker, but how long will guerilla tactics work? Petrovsky has the upper hand everywhere else; this is a tiny victory compared to the greater scale of things. The only chance of really wounding him is to kill Ashe...or to take a place of importance..._

Jarral coughed, the asari shaking her dazed head, "Most of my fleet has crumbled; Cerberus really hit us hard. A handful of ships survived, and a single batarian military frigate, but I was unable to rally them; they all fled the system via FTL. Could be anywhere in the Omega Nebula by now. Without a fleet, I'm pretty much useless."

Ahz exhaled, the salarian closing his eyes, "Nothing much I can do either; with my priority access to Omega's systems cut off from Omega Control, I'm pretty much unable to do anything to hinder Cerberus' efforts. They have their own access to the station's schematics now, but luckily for us, your bunker isn't part of those schematics."

Aria nodded. Cerberus may be bombarding the Tuhi District, but they didn't know about her  _bunker_ yet, but she knew it was only a matter of time before they found it.  _We have to strike hard and fast, not to mention decisively, to break off their attention. The only area I can see that would be of that much importance is Afterlife...but why does Cerberus need Omega? I mean, apart from needing it for a staging area in a future war, but what else...?_

Omega is a asteroid. And why build a station on it? Because its original purpose was a mining facility, and that meant Cerberus would be sitting ontop of a eezo mountain. And what would strike them harder than to grab that mountain right out from under them...?

"Then we need a new plan," Aria informed them, all eyes turning back to her as she regarded them with fury in her eyes, "I will not let Petrovsky sit on my throne one second longer then he fucking has to. Noone fucks with Aria, and I want to show that asshole why. This is where it will all end my friends, oh yes. I'm going to end this fucking charade today by attacking Petrovsky himself. I'm going to attack Afterlife."

Ahz seemed to back away for a second, while Jarral regarded with her wide eyes. Anto just looked at her, and Bray was first to object, "But Aria! That's suicide, and you damn know it! Petrovsky will have the majority of his forces protecting Afterlife! To attack him directly is totally ridiculous!"

Another explosion rocked the bunker from another Cerberus artillery piece, but they all ignored it, Aria fixing Bray with an infuriated gaze, "Are you doubting me, Bray?"

He cocked his head with annoyance, "No! But I know a stupid plan when I see it! What your asking can't be done!"

"It can be fucking done Bray!" Aria snarled at him, body aglow with blue biotics, "And I'm not leaving until it is! I will have Omega back by the end of the day, or I fucking swea-!"

"Miss T'Loak!" Ahz shouted, gaining all of their attention in a second, all eyes pearing at the salarian in the heart of the bunker's war room, "The Cerberus artillery has...stopped."

Aria looked up and everyone in the command center went silent, and just like the salarian tech said, the sound of bombardment had stalled. No artillery, air strikes or gunfire. It just...ceased.  _What the fuck? Did Cerberus just give up or something?_

"Ahz, get me a feed with our forces outside," Aria ordered, "I want to know what the fuck is happening out there and why Cerberus would suddenly stop attacking. Petrovsky and Ashe are relentless; they wouldn't just stop an assault like this."

Ahz nodded and immediately went about setting up a comm link, while Aria, Jarral, Moklan, Anto and Bray eagerly waited. Eventually, Ahz set up the comm link and the window behind them that served as observation for the forward entrance suddenly went opaque, filling with video feed as the face of a batarian pirate appeared. She seemed confused; and there was no gunfire roaring over her.

"Aria?" the batarian asked, "Didn't think you'd be contacting me directly."

Aria shook her head, moving forward and infront of the group, "Cut the shit Sanak and just give me a sitrep. Cerberus has ceased bombardment; what the hell is going on out there?"

"Weirdest thing Aria," Sanak replied, turning away for a second to look over a barricade she hid behind, as if to verify what she saw before turning back, "Just a few minutes ago, these kodiak shuttles started arriving and flying Cerberus troops out whole squads at a time. Eventually, even the Atlases and gunships started leaving. By the time you called, every single Cerberus soldier had just...left. Almost like they'd be ordered to leave. Even the artillery went silent. No fighter coverage, just nothing. Just went silent."

Aria frowned at this, and considered what this could mean.  _Maybe he's evacuating his troops to escape...no, he already expressed his displeasure at having to use adjutants, and he wouldn't endanger an entire district just to root me out by releasing them, so what's his game? What the fuck is he up to? What, one day of siege and he loses his taste for it already?_

Aria had a bad feeling in her gut, and she needed to quench it.

She spun to face Ahz, who was still at his comm, waiting for orders, leaving Sanak on the screen. She growled at the salarian, "Hack Cerberus comms; I don't care who's, just get me a link and find out what's going on with Cerberus on the rest of the station. I don't like this."

"Maybe he's releasing the adjutants on us?" Moklan suggested.

"You haven't had the time to get to know Petrovsky very well like I have Moklan," Aria responded with a hiss, "He would never risk such an endeavour, especially when it endangers civilians."  _The fucker compared me to Ashe, too. Said we were one and the same. I'm nothing like Ashe; he's a racist fucking asshole, at least I stand for racial equality. He's just a human purist scumbag that I'm going to be using as a mop when this battle is over. Then I'll let Sata piss all over his corpse._

Ahz responded a second later, "I've hacked into the comms of a dead Cerberus engineer; I'm bringing up their comms. I'll try and find out what's going on. Although, I do find it surprising that it was so easy to hack. Cerberus is usually better at encryption than this."

 _Indeed. It shouldn't have been that fucking easy. This whole thing stinks worse and worse as it goes._ Aria just crossed her arms under her breasts, awaiting more information. She cut the comms with Sanak, with her ending sentence being 'do not contact me again until you're sure the district is secured or I'll fucking rip you open like a spent clam on a Thessian beach.' She hoped the message got through to the batarian; because Aria made good on her promises.  _I never bluff._

Finally, after a minute of waiting, Ahz spoke up, eyes glued to his console screen with a frown. There was a pause in his speaking, like he was still trying to grasp the information given to him. After a moment, he finally turned to Aria, a worried frown on his face, "Aria, you're not going to believe this."

"What?" Aria asked, not liking surprises. Moklan, Bray, Anto and Jarral seemed just as worried, but they always were.

Ahz gulped, glancing at the screen one more time before turning back to her, "Its not just the Tuhi District; Cerberus forces all over Omega are pulling out of their respective areas, even the ones stationed at Afterlife. Every soldier, gunship and mech is just...leaving."

Aria grinned sadistically, "Where are they going?"

"Everywhere," Ahz replied, his eyes meeting hers, "They are all heading to the nearest docks, boarding ships and leaving the station; all forty thousand. Cerberus is abandoning Omega."

Aria's smile died, but Moklan cried out in victory, fist pumping the air, "We did it! We sent those scumbags running! We've won! We taught them to never fuck with Aria!"

Bray shook his head, eyes meeting Aria's as they both realized the same thing. Jarral gave a weary, detached smile while Anto seemed about to celebrate, but only noticed the look Bray and Aria were sharing, hitting his own epiphany at the same time. Moklan stopped his celebration, facing them with confusion, as did Jarral and Ahz. Eventually, Aria turned to look outside as her base's blast doors opened to reveal an empty district littered with rubble and flames and smoke.

 _Petrovsky doesn't just quit like that._ Aria narrowed her eyes.  _We didn't have an upper hand, and we were basically cornered. He had us, and we had him. It was a stalemate, and both of us knew it. But not only was the encryption between his forces weak, but he withdrew all_ _ **forty thousand**_ _of his troops from the station. He had us completely outnumbered and controlled eighty-one percent of Omega; why give up? Why?_

Because he hasn't.

Aria turned back to Ahz, "Scan the area around Afterlife."

Ahz frowned, "Miss T'Loak, why-"

Aria glared at the salarian, making him almost melt, "Just fucking do it. Call it a hunch."

Everyone looked at her quizzically, including Ahz, for a tense couple of seconds, before the salarian finally nodded and began typing into his terminal, processing a scan of the Afterlife Strip Club. Everyone waited for a few moments before Ahz reported back.

"A squad of Eclipse mercs have assembled outside the main club," Ahz frowned, "Funny, I thought the Eclipse had been kicked off the station by Cerberus. But they don't seem to be taking hostile action against Cerberus; and there's one life sign, human, inside the club itself."

"I knew it," Aria hissed, a cruel grin on her face, "I fucking knew it. Its a trap."

Moklan frowned at her, "How do you know that? How can any of us know that?"

Aria sighed, "You've never been exceptionally bright Moklan, so let me lay this down for you in...what's that charming human expression? 'Layman's terms?'" she chuckled, "You see, Cerberus encryption is never that easy to hack; they use sophisticated shit that rivals the SIA and STG. It isn't a walk in the park; but Ahz just waltzs in like the encryption was made by a two-year-old? No. I bet you Cerberus deliberately dropped encryption to lure us in. They wanted us to know about their retreat."

"That's pretty elaborate," Anto commented, crossing his arms, "And pretty fucking intelligent."

"That's Petrovsky for you," Aria addressed the batarian before turning back to the group, shaking her head, "But that's only the beginning. Cerberus isn't defeated; Petrovsky's pulling his troops off the station to give us a false sense of security; make us think we've won and draw us out from hiding. Thirdly, that Eclipse squad isn't really Eclipse. Its Cerberus."

Jarral frowned, "I don't get it. Why would Cerberus be dressed up in Eclipse armor, weapons and IFFs?"

Aria rubbed her temple, "To lure us in, of course. Petrovsky knows how important Afterlife is to me, and having Eclipse 'attacking' it would more than likely draw me out; he's playing on my emotions. That Eclipse squad is more than likely a Cerberus death squad; or a wet squad. Ashe is probably in command of it, and that lone human life sign in the club is Petrovsky. He always did love overseeing a plan personally."

"He's gambling alot on that plan working," Bray pointed out.

"He does that alot," Aria replied, an image of Petrovsky gazing at a chessboard; one side gold and white, the other the blue of Aria's skin tone, waiting for her king to move. She grinned evilly. Oh it would move, but not in the direction he wanted it to, "He wants to lure me out so he can surprise and take me out. With me gone, our resistance will crumble. The man is ruthless when he needs to be, that's for sure. But we'll play his little game."

Everyone frowned at her in unison, "You'll walk right into his trap?" Anto asked.

Memories flashed by. Gozu District. Mordin Solus. Commander Shepard. Omega Clinic. Plague. Quarantine. Vorcha. Blood Pack. Blue Suns.

"Who said anything about  _me_ walking into the trap?" Aria grinned. She turned to Moklan, her grin turning back into her trademark sadistic smile, "Moklan will take a team of his choosing and pose as plague victims. The Illusive Man knows the plague in the Gozu District was cured, but Petrovsky doesn't know that...or so we hope. They'll move in, take Ashe's men by surprise and distract them while I take Anto and sneak into Afterlife, where we'll kill Petrovsky and then bug out. Sound like a plan?"

"You're  _hoping_ Petrovsky doesn't know about the cured plague?" Moklan asked skeptically, "Excuse me if I feel hardly reassured."

Aria snorted, turning around to lean against the war room console again, "The aim wasn't to reassure you Moklan, only to tell you what will be happening. If you don't like it, I'll find someone else, but either way, I will spring this trap, and I will come out victorious. Now, go gather your men. Anto, come with me and let's gather our weapons from the armoury. Bray, you're in command while I'm gone. Jarral, you're second-in-command. Ahz, you're tech coordinator. Don't let me down."

Everyone nodded their assent and left to attend to their duties. Moklan gave her one more distrusting glare before turning away, heading through the left door heading into the forward entrance bay to gather his squad while Aria lead Anto into the armoury.

When the doors were closed, she immediately picked up her favourite weapon from the armoury bench; the M-11 Wraith heavy shotgun, along with a Talon heavy pistol; because she liked big, nasty guns. She took some thermal clips and put them in her pockets as well, and turned to wait for Anto to finish stocking his guns; in his hands was a Vindicator battle rifle, a predator pistol and a few thermal clips. When he was done, he turned to Aria, and inhaled, "Are you sure this'll work Aria?"

She smiled, not even meeting his gaze as she turned to leave, "You bet your ass it will, Anto. Follow my lead, and we won't fail."

Anto sighed, shaking his head as he stowed his vindicator, "Whatever you say, Aria. Lead the way."

And that she did. Today, she would wreak reckoning upon Petrovsky and his men.

**{Loading...}**

_November 5, 2185_

_0744 hours._

_Entrance to Afterlife, Upper Afterlife, Dyuko District, Omega._

_War for Omega, Assault on Afterlife._

_Ruler of the Terminus Aria T'Loak, Lieutenant Anto Korrigan._

Gunfire signalled the beginning of the attack. Aria lay ontop of a nearby skyscraper's roof, Anto on her right, also laying prone as they observed the commotion below. Dim, crimson light was ever present, and flames danced below from fires not yet smoated. Aria inhaled the smell of it; that was the fragrance of home, and it was beckoning her to remove the filth that had made itself at home in it. Aria was determined to answer its call; to purge Petrovsky, Ashe and Cerberus from her space station. All Anto could do was sniff, nose clogged from snot. She rolled her eyes at his ignorance, but let it go.

She turned to look back down at the battle below. Moklan and his squad had stuck to the plan. The 'eclipse' squad, who had been standing outside with weapons holstered and waiting at Afterlife's entrance, had been taken completely by surprise by Moklan and his men, who had posed as plague victims to make Cerberus more intent on stopping them from getting past, drawing their attention completely. Aria couldn't see Ashe, but that was probably due to the helmets all of them wore. The firefight was heated, and the gunfire echoed through Omega's skyline.

But she knew Moklan wouldn't hold for long; his team were just pirates; these were Cerberus soldiers with cybernetic upgrades and increased intelligence lead by a cunning colonel; they had to make this quick. Seeing that Moklan was now drawing Cerberus further from Afterlife, Aria shot to her feet, motioning for Anto to follow her as she biotically leapt from building to building towards Afterlife, parkour style, with Anto not far behind, using his rocket-powered jetpack. They reached Afterlife's entrance in no time.

With Ashe and his men's backs turned, Aria and Anto spun to face Afterlife's main entrance. The railing sectioning off the entrance for the lower and upper class was now gone, and as she looked up, she saw the sign had suffered no better; The A, F and T had been removed, with E hanging limply, obviously dropped halfheartedly in their rush to evacuate the station, and this angered the pirate queen even more; already, Petrovsky was making himself at home.

Anto took point, tapping the haptic interface for the entrance, with the door now replaced, and they moved inside. Aria rose her weapon in tandem and watched the main corridor come into view. The familiar walls of holographic flames and sidelined sofas was now completely gone, now replaced with a new, half-constructed corridor of gold and white and Cerberus logos; some pieces of wall were missing, cables and consoles hanging out where they were left. Angered even more now, she rushed forward to join Anto, only just restraining herself from running on ahead. The gunfire behind them grew silent, door sliding shut behind them as they advanced on the door leading into Afterlife itself.

Time to see what he had done with the place.

She hit the haptic interface this time instead of Anto, who just gave her an annoyed look, to which she ignored. She moved inside, Wraith shotgun raised, and let her eyes roam over the area; to her surprise, little had been changed...yet. The main club was all intact, with just the bars missing, the areas where they were ripped from their positions visible. Her calm, okayness with this was torn apart when she saw her couch on the ground, tossed from its pearch up above like an unwanted furniture arrangement.  _Oh...those fuckers! They take Afterlife, and now they toss aside_ _ **my**_ _fucking couch!? Oh I'll rip you to shreds Oleg!_

A voice piped up from ahead of them, but this one was not calm and cool and ever emotionless like Petrovsky's. No, this one was eerily and annoying familiar, and it made her blood boil. Smug undertones and the same racial distaste his voice had since their first meeting was still there, and radiated in the man's words, "Well, well, well. Aria, you actually showed up! Honestly, you aren't the brightest bitch, are you? I mean, do we really need to put up neon lights to let you know this was a trap?"

She spun to her left, Anto along with her, both of their weapons lowering over the form of Ashe, who stood before them, alone and covered from shoulders to toes in centurion armor, only the helmet missing, and currently pinned under one arm. His face was as smooth and manless as it always was, and his tiny hair omnipotent. His eyes did all the talking...the smug fucker. His only armament was a phalanx pistol, which was currently holstered on his right hip.

"You!" Aria snarled, moving forward a step, "Where the fuck is Petrovsky?"  _Maybe I was wrong...maybe the general was part of the squad outside and Ashe was the human life sign...fuck, why didn't I see this coming!_

Ashe chuckled, "Come come Aria, you're allowed to share yourself with other men. Not that I want you, its just I find your infatuation with one of our generals very disturbing. Goes against my beliefs, you see. And Cerberus.'"

Aria shook her head, a large frown on her face, "My tech detected one human life sign in here. I'm guessing that was you?"

"You sound disappointed," Ashe held his arms in the air like a man showing himself off, "Don't be, I can be just as ruthless as the General, if not more ruthless. Far more, actually. You see, while he plays 'protect the civvie,' I do what's needed. He said you and I had some pretty good similiarities. I felt insulted, but I guess we are both on the same part of the moral compass. He's up north, I'm down south, you must be...south-east?" He chuckled with glee.

"You'll be 'up' someone's ass in a minute," Anto butted in, vindicator aimed at the Colonel's head, "We're going to kill you and your boss, Colonel."

"I was hoping you'd see reason," Petrovsky's voice sounded to the side, its owner quickly coming into view. He wore the Eclipse armor of a human male, helmet removed and absent from his body, with his paladin pistol hanging in his hand as he moved to stand next to Ashe, facing them with a straight face. He had a speck of purple blood on his face, showing that he had dispatched of Moklan's squad. The batarian himself was most likely dead as well.  _Fucking imbecile; can't even hold a delaying action._

"My reason involves both of your heads outside Afterlife. That the reason we're talking about, because I'd love to see it, sure," Aria spat, aiming her Wraith at Petrovsky, while Anto's vindicator stayed aimed at Ashe's head.

"Aria, this wasn't a trap," Petrovsky pleaded, "It-"

"Enough bullshit, Oleg!" To all of their surprise, it had been Ashe who spoke, and all heads whorled to face him. Before anything could be said, Ashe raised his omni-tool and entered a few commands into it, "I'm ending this now; no more batting the bush, its time to finish this. I'll deal with this, since you seem incapable of doing so."

"What the hell are you doing, Raymond?" Petrovsky demanded, voice lowered in a growl Aria had never heard before.

Ashe could only grin, "Watch and learn."

An inhuman screech sounded from behind the two Cerberus officers and Anto's smug grin dissolved into a sheer look of terror, both of the pirates recognizing the sound. Petrovsky shared in their horror, but in his own special way. Just as the Adjutant appeared and landed beside Ashe, Petrovsky grabbed Ashe by the collar and pulled him inches from his face, Paladin now aimed at his head, "You idiot; you let an  _ **adjutant loose!?**_ You're endangering civilian lives, you fool!"

Ashe's smug smirk turned into a look of infuriation and he pushed Petrovsky away from him, shaking his head with disgust, pointing an accusing finger at Petrovsky as the Adjutant, who didn't even notice the two of them, charged forward to attack Aria and Anto, who were reacting far too slowly, the Cerberus husk moving with lightning speed.

"You're too idealistic Petrovsky!" Ashe spat, "Your need to keep bloody civilians safe is  _endangering_ our operation! The Illusive Man said to take Omega at all costs, and if you're incapable of doing that, then so be it, I'll take over and do it the way it  _should_ be done! The only way it  _can_ be done! So just watch Petrovsky! Watch as I do what you were incapable of doing.

No more sound came from the Cerberus commanders as the Adjutant leapt at Anto, Aria unable to summon her biotics in time. She was forced to watch as her loyal batarian lieutenant cried out in terror as the adjutant landed ontop of him. He tried to raise his vindicator to fire at the beast, but it swatted his arm aside, the force ripping it off and taking the rifle with it, Anto howling in agony, red gore staining the floor.

The adjutant's second arm impaled Anto and then, with a yank, tore his entire torso from the waist up, off his body and threw it aside, red liquid trailing it before it landed in a heap on the floor, collecting in a puddle of crimson. The Adjutant, now having finished tearing Anto apart, turned to Aria, malicious intent hidden in its purple glare.

Aria felt pure, unleashed fury build up in her body and her biotics glowed stronger than ever. Her gaze drifted from Ashe to the Adjutant, and an idea formed in her head.  _Cerberus says they can't control it. So..._

The Adjutant charged, but she swatted its arm aside with a biotic push before matching its gaze. It didn't even hesitate as it charged forward again, maw open and hungry; it wanted something to infect, and she was going to give it that something. Without further a-do, she stopped its charge completely and wrapped it in a biotic field, picking it up off the ground as it flailed around helplessly. She turned to face Ashe, who's smug grin finally died off, never to return, and his eyes matched hers, moving from the adjutant to hers rapidly and turning to run. She smirked, and gave him no time to do such a thing.

Seeing what she was doing, Petrovsky quickly leapt out of the way and Aria, still holding the adjutant in her field, threw it at Ashe with all her might. They watched as the abomination hurled into the colonel at high speed, slamming Ashe into the ground, on his belly with the beast ontop. Ashe cried out, and tried to reach down to pull out his phalanx, but the adjutant was quick to recover and noticed the new host that lay below it.

Quicker than a predator to its prey, the adjutant sunk its widened jaw into Ashe's neck, ceasing the soldier's futile resistance. He slumped on his belly, body lifeless as the adjutant infected him, killing him in a matter of seconds. With Ashe dead and the seed for his infection planted, it stood up to face them...

...only to meet the barrel of Aria's wraith. She fired once and its entire head was shorn clean off its body, black blood succeeding its removal. The adjutant fell backwards and ontop of Ashe's body, who had now begun its rapid transformation into a new adjutant creature.

She sighed, wiping the black fluid from her face and turning to see Petrovsky standing next to her, paladin uselessly hanging at his side. He watched the rapidly transforming Ashe at a distance, eyes always emotionless; he seemed to be waying a million different situations at once and in that moment, Aria lost the will to kill him. Instead, she lowered her weapon and nodded her head at Ashe's body, which was now half-way mutated, turning back to him when she had, "What are you going to do Petrovsky? How much does the lives of your men mean to you?"

Petrovsky shot her an appreciative gaze and nodded back, stepping back and raising his pistol as he did, aiming directly at Ashe's head, "They are paramount," was his only words as he then pulled the trigger, a nice big hole introducing itself in the side of Ashe's head, stopping the transformation and killing the quasi-adjutant instantly. With smoke trailing from the barrel, he holstered the weapon and turned back to Aria, who only looked at him blankly, the rage slowly dying from her eyes.

"This wasn't a trap Aria," Petrovsky slowly spoke up, gaining Aria's attention. She was ready to call him out on his bullshit, and then remembered Ashe's corpse. She listened, still too pissed off over the death of Anto to not do so.  _Even Bray...even Bray wasn't as loyal as this bastard. Anto, you poor motherfucker. I won't...I won't forget you...fuck that sounds sappy!_  Before her thoughts could continue their cussing march, Petrovsky finished, "I wanted to meet with you. I wanted to broker a deal and end this conflict once and for all. I admit, I did deliberately lower the encryption so you'd know about the evacuation, but the actual evacuation itself is a different story. I have one final proposal, one you can't afford to ignore."

Aria narrowed her eyes at him; she had never fully liked the man, and now she would never trust the man; but he almost always made good on his word, even if the first time he had lead her into a trap. But Petrovsky was a logical man; he didn't do things if there was no material gain in them. This man was determined and hard as nails. She'd listen.

"What?" She spat, wanting this conversation over with. She wanted to kill Petrovsky, and let him live, all at the same time.

He cleared his throat and clasped his hands behind her back, his unconquerable personality falling back into place as his unfazed gaze met hers once more, "Aria, I evacuated my troops because I'm giving you the final terms of surrender. Give up now, or its over for Omega."

Aria raised an eyebrow, "What? What the fuck do you mean? You need Omega."

"The Illusive Man is running a new project," Petrovsky told her, "Project: Titan. We'll build our own space station, Aria, simple as that. We don't need Omega anymore; so if we destroy it, we lose nothing, but if you give it up, we gain more."

"And why the fuck would I do that?" Aria asked, raising her shotgun to aim at his face, her rage breaking free once more, "Give me one good reason why I should 'give up,' you fucking piece of-"

He didn't give her a chance to finish, "Because as of now, the entire First Fleet of Cerberus has now trained their guns on Omega. Every nuclear missile, MAC, GARDIAN, pulse laser, ballistic missile, MOAB and rail gun has now trained their weapons on Omega are ready to fire on my command. In just one order, I can reduce this space station to nothing but floating asteroids and space dust. I don't bluff, Aria."

Aria was at a lost for words, "But...no, you wouldn't! You wouldn't fucking dare!" She realized she was getting desperate, but knew there was one thing he could never do, "But there are people on this station, general! Civilians! What happened to your moral code!?"

Petrovsky's gaze looked saddened, but he was determined not to show it, "A...necessary sacrifice. War has made me realize that you can't always get what you want. My moral code is to protect the innocent for as long as is reasonably possible. After that, and you must choose between operational necessity and civilian casuality, than you must act. If I must level Omega, I will Aria. This is your last chance; surrender now, or I will send that order."

Aria's thoughts were a war of emotions. She thought of all the people she cared about; Nyreen, Sata, hell...she even cared for her pirates, if only a little. But the worst loss would be Omega itself; the station she had ruled and become a part of. She couldn't watch it be destroyed by Cerberus. Not by Petrovsky. If she had to sacrifice her rule so it may continue, then so be it. But she would not watch her life be reduced to bits of rock and cosmic dust!

But what would be the point? Wouldn't Petrovsky just kill her after she surrendered anyway? She knew she would; she couldn't bare to watch Omega destroyed, but she wasn't about to die either. She met Petrovsky's gaze once more, and asked the painful question yet.

"If I...surrender Omega to you..." the words were like ashes in her mouth, and she felt the Wraith go limp in her hands, "...Me, my daughter Sata, and all those under me must be given free passage to leave Omega. I want your solemn promise on this Petrovsky; you have me by the throat, why had salt to injury? Let me and my forces go, and Omega is yours."

Petrovsky, to her surprise, nodded, "Very well, Aria. I will give you and your troops a total of ten hours to leave Omega. Trust me Aria, you made the right choice. The people of Omega will know that you saved them from destruction."

Aria nodded solemnly and turned away, stalking towards the door in long strides. She ignored Anto's mangled corpse and Ashe's infected one; all she could see was the exit. But she knew this wasn't the end; Omega hadn't seen the last of her, and before she left, she stopped, and whorled on the spot, calling out Petrovsky's name before he disappeared. He turned and faced her.

"Yes?" Petrovsky asked.

"This isn't over," Aria hissed, "One day, I'll be back. I'll bring the fury of the Terminus down on you, snatch Omega from your hands and make you regret the day you fucked with Aria. Omega only has one rule, and you just violated it. Omega has a long memory, and it will remember for as long as you live on it. I'll be back, and you'd better be fucking ready."

She didn't even wait for Petrovsky's response before storming out of Afterlife and moving down the corridor, pure fury in her eyes.

Oh yes, you'd bet she'd fucking return.

One day.

**{Loading...}**

_November 4, 2185_

_1623 hours._

_Crew's Quarters, Normandy-Class Stealth Frigate Normandy SR-2, Docked with the Rayya._

_Mechanic Peta'Yala vas Normandy._

Peta sat in his bunk, laying on the lower bed as the ship's cook, Rupert Gardner, slept up above. The man's snores were haggard and overall annoying, so Peta had tuned out the sound by turning off his auditory emulators. The quarian just lay there, blankly staring at the wall infront of him, marvelling over the day's events.

All was going well; Peta had convinced Shepard to let him join the crew, as the Broker was sure he would, and now he was a mechanic on the most advanced stealth frigate in the galaxy. And as much as Peta knew he should be concentrating on finding ways to kill Shepard, he couldn't ignore the marvel that was the Normandy! This ship was amazing! Now all Tali's stories of the human vessel made sense; she had been right.

He had seen it all; the Combat Information Center, the Debriefing Room, the Tech Lab, the Armoury, the Gunnery Station, the Medical Bay, the Mess Hall, the Drive Core and Engineering, and the Shuttle Bay; it was all top of its class! And most of all...there was just so much room and space to do stuff in! Just lying in this bunk felt...wrong.

Back on the Huzzi, and the numerous other Migrant Fleet vessels he had served on, everywhere was cramped for maximum use of resources; everyone slept together, beds stacked up next to each other, and even the corridors felt claustrophobic; everywhere was small. But on the Normandy...there was just so much space. So much that it almost made Peta feel out of place.  _How does Tali deal with it all?_

Not like she'll have to soon. Not after you've murdered her husband to be.

Peta tossed those thoughts aside, unwilling to let them corrupt his mind set.  _I'm on the path; there's no turning back now. I must fullfill what I came here to do. I'm not leaving until Shepard is dead and Tali is mine. She will be mine. I just need to get Shepard alone and keep him oblivious enough so I can take him by surprise and kill him. It'll be piecemeal. Now, just to get him alone..._

Shepard and Tali hadn't returned to the ship for half an hour, and it was starting to grate on his nerves. The longer Tali spent with the man, the more corrupted she became and more certain her complete infatuation with the man was assured. He needed to strike quickly. And from the looks Reegar was shooting him, he needed to do it quickly before suspicion rose too high. It would have to be while they were still docked with the Rayya.

He thought of all the ways he could get him alone, and the only place he could think of was in the Captain's Cabin on deck one. But he would have to make sure he was absolutely alone, not to mention he'd have to devise an excuse for actually approaching him; he couldn't just waltz into the cabin or that damned VI would inform him.

Peta opened his omni-tool and observed the virus he had installed it. All he had to do was find a terminal outside the cabin and install it, and the VI would be blocked out of the cabin long enough for him to do what needed to be done, not to mention erase the VI's memory of him having ever been up there. The plan was foolproof, now he just needed an excuse.

He shut down the omni-tool, but before he could continue thinking, the door opened and a dark-skinned human stepped inside, wearing casual clothes. Just as he entered, he turned to see Peta looking at him and smiled warmly, walking over and sitting on the bed opposite him, holding out his hand for a handshake, "You must be Peta'Yala, the ship's new mechanic."

 _Great, he wants small talk. I hope he makes this quick._ Peta put on a smile, even though the human couldn't see it, and reached out his own three-fingered hand, clasping it around the human's and shaking it, "Indeed I am."

"I'm Second Lieutenant Jacob Taylor," the man greeted, shaking his hand back before retracting it, "I'm the Chief Armourer. If its weapons you need, you come to me, Staff Commander Alenko or Major General Reegar. But of course, being a mechanic, you don't care about that boring stuff, so why don't I just cut to the details?" Jacob's warm smile immediately disappeared, and he leaned forward, face serious, "I'm keeping an eye on you."

Peta's eyes widened for a second before narrowing, to avoid arousing further suspicion, "Why? What have I done wrong?"

Jacob chuckled, "I'm not buying it, Peta. Reegar told me of your obsession with...our chief engineer. I'm warning you; lay a hand on her, or even come close to her, and if she doesn't kill you, we will."

Peta snorted, shaking his head, "Is this how all humans greet new crew? No wonder the Council doesn't like you."

Jacob shook his head, "You think yourself a smartass? Please, it doesn't suit you Peta. I consider Tali a good friend, and I'd like to think the feeling is mutual. We will not tolerate you harassing her, and I doubt your need to join our crew is out of a feeling of 'wanting to stop the Reapers.' Noone buys it Peta, and certainly not Tali. So watch what you say and do; because we will be."

Peta waved a dismissive hand, "Maybe I should report you for harassment; I've done nothing to deserve this treatment."

"You're right, you haven't," Jacob stated, standing up and pointing an accusing finger at his mask, "But if you try anything, you'll soon deserve all of it. Watch yourself, Peta. Because I'm not the only one watching; Reegar will be watching your every step on this ship, even if Shepard won't. You're not fooling any of us," Jacob then stood up and made to leave. Before his hand hit the haptic interface however, he stopped and turned to him, look still serious, "Remember what I said Peta. You'll be better off for it."

And with that, Jacob Taylor was gone. Peta slumped in his bed, turning away from the closed doors and facing the wall blankly once more. Great, so not only was Reegar trailing him, but so was the entire crew; he'd have to do this carefully. However, they all seemed to be focused on protecting Tali from him, which meant they wouldn't be watching him when around Shepard, which was a good thing...he guessed.

He closed his eyes, aiming to get some sleep. He'd need the strength to face this challenge soon, and he planned to execute his plan tomorrow. He didn't know if he'd be able to do it; everything weighed against him, and his morals were a confused mess. But he had to do it; in the name of his love and lust for Tali'Zorah vas Normandy, he had to do it.

It would be worth it, he assured himself.

**{Loading...}**

_November 4, 2185_

_1623 hours._

_Trading Deck, Liveship Rayya, Migrant Fleet, Enoch System, Rosetta Nebula._

_Chief Engineer Tali'Zorah vas Normandy, Admiral Shala'Raan vas Tonbay._

The trading deck was a cluster of activity as always; men and women of all trades moving about and bartering for items they needed with items they didn't need; it was how the quarian marketing system worked for them. Tali laughed lightly as children ran past as well, wearing tiny little suits as their parents chased after them, trying to keep them under order. All the while, Tali just followed Shala as the old admiral lead them through the deck towards her private stock.

It had been ten minutes since Tali and Marcus had broken it to Shala and told her that they planned on getting married. Shala had been, unsurprisingly, shocked by the news; for them to be together was one thing, but she didn't think it had been serious enough to warrant marriage. To their own shock, the admiral hadn't broken down in tears, but had instead asked Marcus to leave, saying she would fill him in on quarian bonding practises later, but first, she had to show Tali something. And now here they both were; moving through the trading deck, heading for Shala's private cargo.

Tali had only frowned; what was so important and secretive that Shala had told Marcus to leave just to show Tali in private? She'd be lying if she said that hadn't peaked her interest; so she had gone along with it, and Shala was all too eager to take her along.

Finally, the two quarians arrived at the end of the deck, reaching what looked to be quite a large crate, stamped with the ExoGeni logo. They stopped and Tali had gone to remove the latch, but Shala held out a hand stopping her dead in her tracks.

"Close your eyes and turn around," Shala told her in a motherly tone, her voice seeming to be on the verge of tears.

"Auntie Raan?" Tali asked, confused, "What is it-"

"A surprise," Shala hurriedly finished, "Now, close your eyes and turn around. Please."

Tali sighed, nodding her consent as she turned around, closing her eyes as she did. She stood there, listening as she heard the sounds of padded feet behind her before the sound of the crate's latch being tossed aside could be heard. She stood up on her toes in anticipation, and she heard Shala laugh at the youthful action. She bit her lower lip, her curiosity threatening to burst forth.

She felt a light tap on her shoulder, followed by Shala's voice, "Open your eyes now child. Turn around."

Tali did as instructed and immediately turned around, eyes widening and jaw falling to the bottom of her helmet at what she saw. Shala held infront of her a suit of pure purple, and it looked alot like her suit, but she noticed that even the black undersuit was purple was well. Tali gasped at the sight of it, and noticed that there was also a care unit on left breast for breastfeeding.

"Is that-?" Tali asked in excitement.

"Yes Tali," Shala sobbed, "Its a wedding suit. Meru and I...we made it together. We weaved it so you could...so you could use it when you finally got married. I want you to wear it. Its what she would have wanted."

Tali didn't know what to do; she just stood there, looking at it. It was the most beautiful thing she had ever seen, and she so desperately wanted to lose herself in the comfortable looking fabric. But all she could think of was the person who made; a mother who couldn't be there for her anymore. But even in death, the woman seemed to be shaping Tali's life, and she loved her all the more for it. Without a second thought, she leapt forward and embraced Shala, arms hugging tight around her aunt...now her adoptive mother.

The admiral was taken aback by the sudden gesture but accepted the hug nonetheless, chuckling lightly through choked out sobs, memories of her promise to Meru still ringing in her mind, echoing through her eardrums.  _Promise me Shala that Tali will wear this on her wedding day. In case...in case I'm not there for her when she finally does. I want her to be happy...do it for me Shala. Do it for Tali._

She kept her promise.

Before she knew it, the embrace was over and Tali pulled away, taking the suit out of Shala's arms. The admiral willingly let her do this, watching as the quarian engineer placed the suit against her, watching as it seemed to match her slim form perfectly. She jumped up and down with excitement, the idea of getting married for too much for her to comprehend fully. It was just too much for her.

Everything was finally going right for her for once, and it made Tali feel fantastic, "I wish...I wish mother was here for...for..."

"Its okay Tali," Shala smiled weakly, placing a reassuring hand on her shoulder, and giving it a gentle squeeze, "I'm sure, that no matter where she is, she's looking down on you, and is smiling. I'm sure she'd also approve of Marcus."

Tali laughed lightly, hugging the suit closer to her with more fervor, an awkward silence passing between the two of them, drowning out the sound of the many other quarians moving about in the background. Eventually, Shala broke the silence with a light cough.

"So do you have a date for when you're getting married?" Shala asked, curious as to how much time she would have to prepare for it. This was a wedding between two of the galaxy's heroes, one of them a quarian, and she wanted it to be perfect.

Tali nodded slowly, still unable to take her eyes off the suit that she was so eagerly hugging to her body, "I'll have to talk with Marcus, but he seems to want it pretty soon so...I think we should do it in three days."

Shala's eyes widened, "Three days? You do want it soon, but I'll see what I can do. Might even get Gerrel to pull in. Where do you want to hold it?"

Tali shook her head erratically, "No! I mean...Auntie, you don't have to do th-"

"Yes, I do," Shala forcefully, but warmly, cut her off, "You're my niece, and the only thing I'll get to a daughter. You're-" a sniff escaped her nose, "You're also all I have left. I want this to be special and perfect for you. Now, where do you plan to hold it?"

Tali sighed, "Marcus wants it to be on the Rayya, and I agree. I plan to hold it in the Arena, and I think he agrees. What do you think?"

"It sounds perfect," Shala chuckled, "Apart from the trading deck, its the largest place on this liveship. I'll make some calls with Gerrel and see what I can arrange and what resources I can round up. Now, I'll take the suit and clean it up, and then you can have it back in time for the wedding day. From what I've heard, human weddings state that it is bad luck for a husband to see his wife before being married, which means you won't see him until then; plenty of time to put on the suit in a clean room, don't you think?"

Tali nodded, "Agreed. Besides, I don't want this to be completely quarian. I want some parts of his culture involved as well. So, are you going to tell him how quarian ceremonies work, or should I?"

"I think I should," Shala replied, holding her hands up to forestall any objections, "I've been through the process before when I married Byp, so I have the experience. It would be better to have me explain it to him. And...I just want you to know how happy I am for you child. Few people find such a perfect match."

Tali smiled, "Thank you auntie. That means alot," and with that, she stepped forward, wrapping her quarian aunt in a tight hug, both of them just relishing in the moment, tears streaming down Shala's face. They both just stood there, embraced. This day had been a long time coming for Tali.

And in three days, the wait would be no more.

**{Loading...}**

_November 4, 2185_

_1625 hours._

_Docking Cradle 17, Liveship Rayya, Migrant Fleet, Enoch System, Rosetta Nebula._

_Commander Marcus Lee Shepard, Justicar Samara._

"Shepard?"

For half an hour, Marcus had just stood there, waiting for his fiancee and Shala to return. He wasn't impatient, mind you, he was just strongly curious as to what could take so long; but Shala had insisted that he not come, and that the present was for Tali's eyes only, and he had stayed, his only regret being that he did not at least inquire into what it was. But he would wait, for hours if necessary. N7 training had turned him into a soldier capable of standing in formation for half a day if necessary, so it didn't bother him in the slightest.

Samara's voice was smooth was silk and calm as the night wind, so hearing it at a distance would have been close to impossible in the noisy confines of a quarian vessel like the Rayya. Luckily for him though, the voice was only a meter away, so he picked it up easily. He spun on the spot, turning to face the asari justicar as she approached, smiling warmly at her.

"Samara," Marcus greeted, inclining his head in a bow like fashion, "You want something?"

The asari merely nodded, coming to a stop at his side, hands clasped behind her back, "I find the need to speak with you about our new crew member."

Marcus found himself inhaling, exhaling and standing straighter all at once upon hearing those last two words, posture stiffening, one word rolling off his lips, "Peta."

Samara nodded again, "I, and many of the crew, have objections to Peta's position on the ship."

Marcus quirked an eyebrow at that, "You and the entire quarian Flotilla. From what Gerrel, Koris and Xen have told me over conference call is that the entire fleet seems to think he had something to do with the attack, simply because he wasn't at the evacuation dock."

Samara frowned, "You do not believe these rumors?"

"No more than I believe unicorns exist," Marcus waved a dismissive hand, "He's a harmless mechanic. How could he be the instigator of a Cerberus and Shadow Broker invasion in his own fleet? The kid's desperate, but that desperate? No, I don't think so. Its simply absurd to believe that he could have been the mastermind of this, not him."

Samara shook her head, "The villain is usually hiding in the shadows of those you least suspect. I have reason to believe that Peta is untrustworthy, and that his access to the ship should be restricted until his sense of loyalty is ascertained."

"So you want me to imprison him? Throw him in the brig?" Marcus asked, crossing his arms over his armoured chest, "I don't treat my crew like that Samara."

"He is not your crew," Samara pointed out, voice getting more stern, "He is a unknown entity, and undefinable quantity. He cannot be trusted, and should not be trusted, especially by you. He should be restricted with his access; and EDI should watch him at all times, being the omnipresent being that she is. Letting him onboard was a mistake; letting him roam the ship freely is a bigger mistake."

Marcus sighed heavily, "I'd be lying if I said I don't have my own suspicions, Samara."

"Then why not act?" the justicar asked, twisting to face him fully, "Why continue to allow him to endanger the crew and not act?"

"Because I'm not known for acting on such things without proven facts," Marcus responded.

"The Council stated the same thing about Saren Arterius, Shepard," Samara replied, shaking her head and looking at the ground, "Their unwillingness to act almost cost the galaxy. If not for you, they would have wiped us out. Do not make the same mistake. Stop this threat at the source before he can cause any harm."

Marcus looked at her with anger, "Don't ever compare  _me_ to the fucking  _Council_. Those scumbags are an actual  _threat_ I can recognize. One is a three-person political superpower who, at the flick of a finger, can have the galaxy's three deadliest fleets, political powers and the entire Special Tactics and Recon division after me. The other is a mechanic with no combat experience, on a ship full of elite operatives, and just happens to be obsessed with my fiancee. Know the difference, Samara. A threat is a threat, but Peta is Peta. He is of no threat to the Normandy, or to me."

"It is not the Normandy crew's lives I fear for Shepard," Samara lamented, fixing her gaze with his, her words gaining his attention, "Its yours. He has shown he'll do anything to get what he wants Shepard, and right now, what he wants most is the person you love. How far do you think he's willing to go to get that prize?"

Marcus shook his head, standing straighter than ever before and facing the asari completely, "He's a mechanic. He's no threat."

"At first glance, the geth were nothing but a small foe," Samara replied, "Then you encountered Sovereign and the Reapers. Then the Collectors. Sometimes, the tiniest of foes can become your greatest adversary. Neatralize the threat before it has time to grow Shepard; never underestimate your foe, you of all people should understand this."

"I'll take it under advisement Samara," Marcus replied harshly, snapping his eyes away from the justicar.

"That is all I can ask," Samara replied, bowing before turning to leave, her last words echoing through his eardrums, "Remember, act before it is too late."

Marcus wanted to ignore her words, but he couldn't. What if she was right? Did Peta have ulterior motives to being on the Normandy? What if his lust for Tali really did drive him to do a stupid thing as to attack him? Could he take that risk?

No, Peta is just a mechanic.

He's harmless.

But nothing's ever harmless.

**{Loading...}**

_November 4, 2185_

_1636 hours._

_AI Core, Normandy-Class Stealth Frigate Normandy SR-2, Docked with the Rayya._

_Chief Engineer Tali'Zorah vas Normandy, Legion._

Legion stood stonewall still as Tali worked on its lower leg joints, her omni-tool illuminating the spot she kneeled at in a orange glow as she typed and worked frantically. The geth had approached her over the comms for assistance in a repair on a malfunctioning servo in its left leg, which Tali was more than willing to help with.

But even as she worked, all she could think about was her upcoming marriage; she had run it through with Shepard, and he had agreed on the date. So on November 7, 2185, she was going to get married to Commander Marcus Shepard, most wanted man in the galaxy. She had almost slapped herself for thinking of such things; she was doing it out of love, not out of a need to be popular. And that suit...it was beautiful, and Tali could only wonder what she'd look like in it.

As far as she knew, he was still on the Rayya with Shala, the quarian elder explaining quarian wedding practises to him. In retrospect, human and quarian ceremonies weren't all that different from each other, but there was noticable differences. There was the usual setting about inviting people to be an audience, then there was the vows, and of course, the kissing of the bride (although, for some reason, in human culture, it was 'you may now kiss the bride' but of course, Tali was okay with that aspect of it, and it was a trivial difference anyway).

The changes came with how the ceremony itself ran. The groom was naturally the person to enter first, but when he did, he walked in with three people. Leading the way was the most influential and guiding person in their lives. Walking with them was a close friend, or brother, or in human cases, the best man, and following behind them was the most supportive person. The mother and father of both partners would replace the priest in human ceremony. But because Shepard's father was dead, and both of Tali's parents dead, the ceremony had to be changed abit.

Shala now stood as Tali's mother, but with Byp dead, that left the position open, and Gerrel willingly stepped in. Shepard would have his mother, Hannah, but with his father dead, Anderson would be taking the role of the father.

Tali didn't know who Shepard would pick, but she knew who she had. Shala would lead the way, Kasumi would walk alongside Tali, and behind her would be Wrex. Tali was positive Marcus would choose Garrus for best man, but she wasn't about to make assumptions. Of course, Legion couldn't attend, but itself and EDI would be able to observe through the Rayya's surveillance cameras, to which they could easily hack without being detected.

Once standing on the podium together, the mother would open with the procession (Shala and Hannah), followed by the commitment of vows, which was initiated by the fathers (Anderson and Gerrel). Then, the people who walked with the couple (Garrus and Kasumi) would provide bonding gifts, to which she had a dilemma. But in the end, Tali knew she wanted to mimic human ceremony as best as possible, and decided to change it so it was the unveiling of the rings, just in human weddings.

Once all that was done, the supportive ones (whoever Shepard chose and Wrex) would remove their faceplates (in Shepard's case, nothing would happen) and give access to each other's faces. Once this was done, the quarian version of the 'rings' occured.

The two lines on a quarian's forehead wasn't just a tattoo; it was symbolic. Both lines were representative of their parents. To add a third line down the center is to represent their spouse. They would be provided ink, and Marcus would draw a line down the center of her forehead, while she did the same to him. It would look slightly silly, but she didn't really think he'd care. And, of course, eventually came the 'you may kiss the bride' and the ceremony was over, followed by the typical after party, which would be held in the same place.

A shiver ran down her spine at the very thought of this going through; it was actually happening. She didn't know whether to break down into tears of joy, or jump up and down in excitement, embrace Marcus and make love to him. In the end, all she could do to sop up her time was to fix this geth. Which had an annoying tendency to try and talk with her, something she still wasn't quite used to.

"Creator Tali'Zorah," Legion spoke up, "We have a enquiry."

"Can it wait?" Tali asked harshly, trying to calm her tone as she desperately tried to weld the armor chasising around the geth's leg together while talking, but it didn't seem like it was going to work.

A whir of motors above her sounded, followed by the geth's calculated response, "We deemed it necessary to ask this question while the Creator is still present."

Tali sighed, checking the readouts on her omni-tool one more time before going back to work, "Fine. What is it...Legion?"  _Still can't believe we named a geth. Keelah, I'm still having a hard time not shooting it. If the Fleet found out I was working alongside a geth...I'd be exiled for sure. The ancestors must be rolling in their graves._

Again, a whir of motors, followed by yet another timed response, its synthetic tone reverbrating through her skull like an echo, "We have built consensus and calculated the chances of defeating the Old Machines. In a calculated scenario, we have determined that there is a 9.96 percent chance of victory for organic forces. The Old Machines have never been defeated in previous cycles, but Shepard-Commander believes we can win. We do not understand these illogical thoughts."

Tali looked up at the geth with a quizzical frown, and tried to keep the irritation out of her tone.  _Thanks for ruining my mood,_ "Its not all about the mathematics, Legion. Sometimes you have to believe you can win. In the end, what truly wins wars? Its not how many tanks, guns, ships or troops the other side has, but rather, the skill of the men and women in that army. The loyalty to their commanders, the hope, faith and belief they conjure. What's the point of fighting if you can't believe you can win? Instead, you fight for love and for your people; you fight for those you care about, so they can live in safety and haven. That's why we fight Legion; for a better tomorrow."

"Hope is irrelevant," Legion replied, "Firepower is a successive certainty in warfare. We have reviewed human history; the Japanese believed they could defeat the United States in the Second World War, but in the end, were put down by two successive nuclear strikes, ending their resistance completely. They had hope and belief, but they were defeated anyway."

Tali shook her head, sighing, "Have you done the same research on the Krogan Rebellions? The krogan completely outclassed the salarians and asari in firepower, and even when the turians turned up, they still completely outclassed everyone. Their fleet decimated everyone else's and their ground troops were unstoppable. But it was their belief that they could win that won out. If we can adapt the same line of thinking here, we can defeat the Reapers."

"We do not understand this concept," Legion replied montonely, and Tali almost felt like groaning, but the geth continued to surprise her, "Organics are strange. We shall archive this new information for later use in our attempts to understand organics."

Tali just shook her head, but she couldn't deny the small smile on her face. Maybe there was hope for the geth yet...not to mention that if Marcus was successful in peace talks... _Rannoch. To think, I could be in the lifetime that my people get our homeworld back. Amazing._ And with the geth as their allies, defeating the Reapers seemed all the more possible.  _Now we just need to change the mindset of ninety percent of the quarian race..._

"Tali'Zorah," EDI's voice spoke up, her blue pawn hologram appearing on the console behind the quarian, "Kal'Reegar is approaching the AI Core with the intention of talking to you. Do you want me to tell him to leave a message?"

Tali's smile grew in preparation with talking to her brother, the quarian deactivating her omni-tool as she stood up and faced EDI. Out of the two AIs, Tali had grown to trust EDI the most, especially after saving the Normandy and Joker from the Collector abduction just before the final assault. It had proven the AI's loyalty. While Legion had helped on the Collector Base, it was still a geth. She had yet to fully trust it, and even that may never happen.

She shook her head, motioning to the locked door, "No, let him in EDI. Besides, I'm basically finished here," she turned back to Legion as EDI's hologram evaporated and the red haptic interface on the door turned green, "Is it fixed, Legion?"

"It is operating at one hundred percent effiency, Creator Zorah," Legion surmized, nodding its head in a almost organic manner, having adopted many organic gestures, like handshakes and facial gestures (hence the flaps on its optics) from the crew in its time aboard the vessel, "We thank you for the correction in our leg motoring systems. It will increase our effiency in combat, should the need further arise. We will now temporarily upload into the consensus for an exchange of data while you converse with Creator Reegar." And with that, a beep was heard, followed by the geth's optics facing the ground, body going inert.

Before she could question the gesture, the door opened and she turned to face Kal, who now stood inside the AI Core, hands clasped behind his back as the door closed behind him, locked. Curious, what did Reegar want to talk about that required a locked door?

"Ma'am," Kal spoke, "I need to speak you."

Tali sighed, almost giggling, "I told you Kal, please call me Tali. Besides, you're of a higher rank."

"When it comes to skill and the people you serve with, my rank means little," Kal replied, but still noticed Tali's posture; hands on her hips and sighed, "But I'll continue working on that...ma'am." He smiled behind his mask, adding the last bit just to tease her.

She rolled her eyes and crossed her arms under her breasts, curious as to what he wanted to talk about, "What's this about Kal? Why did you lock the door?"

The man's smile dropped and eyes narrowed, tone becoming less playful and more serious, as he usually was, "Ma'am, I needed to talk to you and the door is locked to stop unwanted ears from hearing what I have to say to you. This is important, and could deal with ship security and crew safety. I brought it to you, because your justicar has already tried warning Shepard himself, but I knew that his unionmate would be able to get through to him."

Tali arched an eyebrow and leaned back, "Why? What's this about?"

"Its about Peta'Yala ma'am," Kal emphasized, "Me, and the majority of the crew, believes he's a threat to the Normandy crew, most notably, you and the Commander."

Tali snorted, almost breaking into a laugh. But when she saw that Kal's expression and posture hadn't changed behind the suit, her smile disappeared, realizing he was serious, "I know marines are meant to be paranoid Kal, I should know; I'm a marine myself and I've learnt to live on paranoia. But I also know how to deconstruct a threat, and how to calculate if its worth defending against. Right now, I can tell you, he's harmless. Peta is a non-combatant; he doesn't have the training that the people of the Normandy have. I know he's obsessed with me, but that doesn't make him considerably more dangerous, it just makes him a loony."

Kal nodded, "Aware of that, ma'am, but this isn't just any crazed, infatuated young mechanic; this is Peta'Yala. We're talking about the kid who betrayed the Flotilla to Cerberus and the Shadow Broker just so he could have you, and didn't get exiled for it. Keelah, he didn't even get put on trial because the Admirals and the Conclave didn't suspect him."

Tali's eyes narrowed and turned into a low growl, "You know that's just a rumor, Kal. There's no proof that Peta was involved."

"The proof is staring us in the face Tali," Kal growled back, using her actual name for emphasis, "Where was he during the evacuation? Hiding. Why? Because he says he didn't feel the need to 'evacuate' and had full 'confidence' in our marines. Please Tali. Gerrel even told me that he'd never heard such a load of bullshit before. I've learnt to tell when a person's lying Tali; its a skill I built when dealing with people on pilgrimage. And Peta is the biggest sack of lying scum there is. What he doesn't have combat skills, he makes up for in sheer espionage," Kal stepped closer and placed a hand on her shoulder, "You cannot underestimate him, Tali. He will try everything to get his hands on you; and we both know the person that has to be out of the picture for him to succeed."

Tali contemplated his words for a few seconds before chuckling, pushing Kal away, "Are you serious? Peta wouldn't stand a chance against Marcus! He's a decorated N7 Special Forces operative, an Alliance Navy marine commander, a Council Spectre, and the Hero of the Citadel! He destroyed a Reaper for Keelah's sake! He would turn Peta into a pulp without a second thought, and he knows that! He wouldn't dare attack him!"

"You think Peta would be dumb enough to attack Shepard upfront? I know he's not tactically bright Tali, but give the kid some credit," Kal snorted, "He'll take the subtle approach; first he'll appear innocent and willing. Once on the crew, he'll integrate with the crew, gain their trust, draw off suspicion. Then he'll strike. Hard and fast, when Shepard isn't even suspecting. Your husband won't see it coming Tali; you  _have_ to warn him."

"Peta is not that brilliant," Tali replied, pacing the room, "You and I both saw what he was like in school, primary and college. Keelah, remember that bully, Vrox'Deea, I think his name was? Remember how he used to push and shove Peta around back in Senior Grade? Also remember when he charged through a school assembly, with a boot knife, trying to stab said bully from at least five teacher lines away? He even shouted!  _Shouted!_ Shepard would see Peta coming from a mile away!"

"Peta has changed, you know that. We all have," Kal replied, "You can't exactly say your engineering skills were as top notch then as they are now. You can't say your shotgun and weapons skills were as good then. Or your leadership skills. Keelah, you didn't even plan to be a marine! But you became one anyway! Peta has changed; he's not the shy kid we remember. He's...he's a monster who's willing to sacrifice his own people to get what he wants. To get you."

"You seem to forget that I can handle myself," Tali pouted.

"I know," the quarian marine replied grimly, "A YMIR mech has rockets and a heavy machine gun Tali, not to forget strong kinetic barriers. But how much do they matter when jump on its back? It can't use them, and it has no melee abilities. Completely helpless. Shepard may be able to deal with Peta when he's in his sights, but he won't do that; he'll stab Shepard in the back if left alone with him."

Tali shook her head, turning to leave, but stopped as she turned to face him one more time, a smile behind her mask, "Oh, but you forget one thing Kal..."

He only looked at her, posture shrunken.

"...he's never alone. He's got me."

And then Tali was gone. Kal knew there was only one thing he could do.

He would lock onto Peta like a Hellfire missile. And if he even made one suspicious move, he would fire and take him  _down._

With lethal force, if necessary.

**{Loading...}**

_November 4, 2185_

_1858 hours._

_XO's Quarters, Normandy-Class Stealth Frigate Normandy SR-2, Docked with the Rayya._

_First Lieutenant Miranda Lawson._

Miranda sighed as she finally finished typing the last part of her fanfiction, and uploaded it. Noone knew it, but she had an extreme liking for the sight, and had posted several...erotic fanfictions onto the sight, mostly centering around the all time favourite video game phenomenon called Mass Effect, which had, to her annoyance, and eerily familiar story to how the events of the Eden Prime War went, except, instead of Commander Shepard, it had a character called John-117, who fought an army of super beings called the Forerunners, while fighting in a multiracial squad of aliens that included a Jiralhanae named Tartarus, a Sangheili named Thel'Vadam, a Unggoy named Talsi Orah, and a Kig-Yar named Rigidhshsh. It was a ridiculous game...but Miranda liked it.

She quite looked forward to the sequel; Mass Effect 2: Reaper ODSTs.

The terminal shut down, with Miranda leaning backwards and closing her eyes, a breath of air escaping her lips. She sighed happily, thinking of her life free from Cerberus.  _Well, at least now I have time for those fanfictions. The Illusive Man used to have me up at night doing reports; now I can kick back and relax. Thank you Shepard. Now I could certainly do with a hot shower...then I'll send a message to Ori and see how she's doing._

Thoughts of her sister sent butterflies through her stomach; she remembered having to kill Niket, her best friend, but Shepard had helped her through that. And she had felt something for him once, but just like her relationship with Jacob, that had fizzled out quickly, especially when she learnt of his feelings for Tali.  _A lucky girl. Besides, can't let up on my ice queen routine. People might think I'm nice. Don't want to give Jack any ideas._

Just as she got out of her seat and headed for the shower cubicle in her cabin, she heard a knock on the door and turned to it, frowning. Finally, with a exhale of breath, she returned to her seat and yelled out for the person to come in...

...and was met by a datapad flying into her face and falling into her lap, a familiar blue asari in a white, armoured labcoat coming to stand by her desk, innocent eyes filled with a fire, "XO Lawson," Liara finally greeted; after assaulting her with a datapad, that is.

Miranda looked at her incredulously, "What was that? Is that how you greet everyone on the way into their home?"

Liara seemed to blush for a second, but quickly shrugged it off, pointing at the datapad, "I think you humans have a saying. I've struck gold," again, she motioned to the datapad, which Miranda finally addressed. Looking down, she picked it up and gave it a long look. Once she had read the information, she tossed it back on her desk and met Liara's eyes, her own eyes widened in surprise. As if worried people could hear them, she leaned forward, voice a whisper.

"You finally did it?" Miranda asked, "You found the Broker?"

Liara let a cruel smirk grace her supple lips, "Well, not quite. But I've narrowed down the information, done some correlation, and sent it to my agent on Illium, a salarian by the name of Sekat. He used to be an agent for the Broker, but he defected and I bumped into him later on, and he was more than willing to help. He didn't explain why, but he was very eager. I sent the information, he cross-referenced and bingo...he's found the Broker."

Miranda grinned, "Why haven't you told the Commander?"

Liara shook her head, "Because I haven't got the information; Sekat doesn't want to risk transferring the information over an unsecured channel; believes that the Shadow Broker might intercept it or trace it. He's set up a meeting in the Baria Frontiers Office in Nos Astra, and wants me to meet him there. I haven't brought this to Shepard because I didn't want to bother him; not with preparations for the wedding and everything."

"So why bring this to me?" Miranda asked, brow raised, "Why not just go? I'm sure Shepard would understand."

Liara sighed, bracing her arms against Miranda's desk, "Because Sekat, and me, are worried that the Broker might already know about our knowledge and might send forces to stop us. Sekat is just one merc, and I'm just one biotic. I brought this to you because you're second-in-command after Shepard. I need a squad to bring with me, as a 'praetorian' guard of sorts."

Miranda leaned back and contemplated this for a second, scanning Liara's gaze. The asari was determined and her gaze brokered no argument, and Miranda saw the necessity of this; Shepard and Tali would enjoy their marriage longer knowing the Shadow Broker was no longer a threat. Everyone would sleep alot better. And it at least allowed them to concentrate fully on uniting the galaxy in time for the Reapers' arrival.

She leaned back forward and nodded, "Very well. I'll assemble a squad; I was thinking of bringing myself, along with Grunt and Thane, how does that sound?"

Liara nodded, "Excellent; allows for some extra biotics, a little brute force, and some agility as well. I'm sure Shepard won't mind. I will inform him, but we must act quickly before the Broker acts."

Miranda nodded, standing up and nodding, "Then let's do this. I'll send a message to Grunt and Thane telling them to meet us in the Shuttle Bay. We'll take the new kodiak that Illium docks gave us; don't need to take the Normandy's. Hopefully this'll be done with no need for force. I'll go gather our weapons from the armoury and meet you there."

Liara nodded and quickly left the room, without even a goodbye. Miranda rolled her eyes and turned back to the shower cubicle. She yurned for the feel of hot water on her skin, but it seems it would have to wait.

Work always came first for Miranda Lawson.

**"We should never have underestimated Peta. Keelah, we were so stupid. We should have listened!"**

**\- Tali'Shepard pav Rannoch.**

**"But it worked out in the end, didn't it? He didn't win."**

**\- Marcus Shepard.**

_**A/N:** _

_**This is officially the end to the Omega Arc, apart from a possible section with Aria later on. But as of now, the War for Omega is over; Aria lost, and Cerberus controls Omega now. You won't see that space station now until the events of Holocaust.** _

_**Also, the Shadow Broker Arc is drawing to a close. What? You thought this story would go for longer? Requiem only has a planned 32 chapters, with a prologue and epilogue! That's longer than Enigma, I know, but that technically had more content than Requiem. You have to remember that this story is only cleaning up the events between Mass Effect 2 and 3: How Cerberus took Omega and how they became so powerful, how Liara became the Shadow Broker, how the Bahak incident came to be, and how the Normandy came to split up and Shepard ended up under house arrest. That is essentially Requiem's only purpose; hence the substantial lack of 2251 chapters.** _

_**Yes, the events I'm depicting are substantially different from the Lair of the Shadow Broker DLC. But I wanted to depict it my own, original way. I know killing off Vasir early seemed pretty uncalled for, but in my eyes, she wasn't the main antagonist; the Broker was, and I felt that the 'Brokers' deserved more attention as villains than Vasir does, for that sole reason. And you're all probably wondering; who is this quarian broker and why is she so against the idea of killing Tali and Shepard?** _

_**Some think its Xen.** _

_**I'm not going to say it isn't, but I can pretty much gurantee that heading somewhere along those lines. Xen is an** _ _Admiral,_ _**which should give you some indication.** _

_**Have fun guessing who it is! But I'll tell you this; the quarian broker isn't a new character, he/she has been depicted before. Try and guess the gender and what character you might think they are. I look forward to reading your tryouts!** _


	22. Don't Say I Didn't Tell You So

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Peta makes his move. Liara takes a team to investigate her lead: the Broker isn't far behind. Zaeed departs the Normandy.

**REQUIEM**

**CHAPTER TWENTY-0NE:**

**DON'T SAY I DIDN'T TELL YOU SO**

_November 5, 2185_

_1117 hours._

_The Arena, Liveship Rayya, Migrant Fleet, Enoch System, Rosetta Nebula._

_Admiral Shala'Raan vas Tonbay, Admiral Han'Gerrel vas Neema, Admiral Zaal'Koris vas Qwib Qwib, Admiral Daro'Xen vas Moreh._

The preparations for the wedding were well underway now. When Shala had finished speaking to Marcus, her soon-to-be nephew in law, or in her case, son-in-law, she had immediately informed Gerrel and the rest of the Admiralty Board, who had then announced it to the entire Migrant Fleet. To their utter surprise, most of the fleet had reacted positively to the news, with only a small few disgusted by it, but they were mostly purist nationalists who the fleet ignored half the time anyway.

She knew Xen was definitely disgusted by it, and Koris was largely skeptical about the whole thing. Gerrel seemed ecstatic, stating that the marriage of their best Flotillan marine to the Alliance's best was a worthy much for Tali, not to mention it would boost political relations between both species, which Koris had seen the good side of.

So as Shala and the Admiralty Board walked into the Arena, they saw that it was colored brightly and full of decorations; usually, quarians would see such an extravagance as a waste of resources, but for the marriage of two galactic heroes, it was well within reason. This was a historic moment for the entire quarian species; something to be recorded.

The podium where the Admiralty Board stood had been moved around; it was now replaced by a marriage podium, with enough room for four parents, along with the two spouses. The audience seats were left as is, if only slightly rotated. Tables, donated by the Normandy crew, were set up around the room, and their cook, a Mess Sergeant Gardner, was hard at work cooking foods for both levo and dextro, but largely on the latter due to the mass amount of quarians attending the event.

As the four of them walked into the Arena, they watched as five quarian hoisted a massive banner, covered in the swirls of Clan Zorah, upon the wall behind the original Admiral's podium, symbolizing Tali's heritage. Due to Shepard not being a quarian, no banner was hoisted up for him, and its position left blank. It was quite a sight, and it made Shala smile. However, her smile soon died when Xen spoke.

"Such a trivial waste of resources," she turned to the quarian admiral, and saw she had her arms crossed under her bosom, eyes narrowed and seemingly scanning the room as she leaned on one hip. Out of the four of them, Xen was the youngest, only being 32 years old. But she had the experience that comes with rank, "Our people know better than this. This Board knows better."

Before Shala could respond to Xen's remark, Gerrel jumped in, his large, masculine frame turning to face Xen, his body easily towering over all of them, body rippling from muscle he had earned from his years in the marines. His eyes locked onto Xen's frame, eyes narrowed in a glare, "Watch your mouth, Xen or keep it shut. This Board will not entertain your futile complaints."

Xen snorted, "You'll just have to deal with it. An opinion's an opinion. Over extravagance for one selfish little girl and her fetish for a human, that's all it is. How can we even be entertaining interspecies trash like this?"

Koris, for once, took Gerrel's side, "Because marriage is about love, Xen. Something you've obviously forgotten about in your pursuit to destroy our species."

Xen shook her head, a chuckle escaping her lips, "The suit-wetter agrees. I hope you don't feel any less moralized due to my disgust of that."

Shala rolled her eyes and finally delivered her own piece of mind, "Tali has earned the right to marry who she chooses and be happy. I can't remember the last time you did anything to aid our species, Xen."

That caught the quarian offguard, but she was quick to go back on the offensive, "My experiments on the geth have brought us closer to retaking the homeworld."

"Closer to our extinction, you mean," Koris shot in, "We can't win a war against the geth, and trying to retake the Perseus Veil won't succeed. Its people like you who fail to realize this."

"Our coming war with the geth has nothing to do with this," Gerrel interjected, trying desperately not to take the side of Xen, even with his dislike of Koris and his bitter rivalry with the man, "This is about one of our people's happiness. You might as well stop complaining Xen, because noone's listening enough to care. This is a historic moment in quarian history."

Xen snorted once more before waving a dismissive hand, arms falling to her side, "I'll observe 'this historic moment' from my lab on the Moreh. Maybe I'll get some actual work done while you're out wasting resources like this," and with that, the admiral turned and left, her every step graceful and predicted, hips swaying like a woman trying to swoon every male around her. From what she heard, Xen had many suitors lining up, whether it be because of the quarian's trademark hips, or due to Xen's unique, erotic voice, but either way, Xen clearly wasn't interested in anything but her plans to to reenslave the geth species. If there was ever a mad scientist, it was Daro'Xen.

"Finally," Gerrel sighed, turning to Raan and chuckling, "I thought she'd never leave."

"Indeed," Koris stated in kind, "Her opinions ring allow here. I quite look forward to seeing this event."

Gerrel scoffed, turning to face the pacifist admiral, who was giving him a glare of distaste as the ex-marine, a massive smile hidden behind his visor, spoke in humorous tones, "Coming from the one who tried his best to villainize and exile the person who's getting married, I find that statement quite the irony."

Koris looked at him incredulously, hands never leaving their clasped position behind the quarian's back, "I did not-"

"Admirals, please!" Shala pleaded, voice loud and easily speaking over the two of them, the elderly quarian always being the mediator for the two whenever they did their 'battle of words', both of them always at each other's throats. She swore the two men hated each other, and from what Rael used to tell her, Gerrel basically despised Koris. She didn't know whether the feeling was mutual with Koris or not, "Do not start your petty rivalries here!"

"I merely want you to know that I have no personal hatred for Tali'Zorah," Koris declared, as if trying to convince the entire room, "I did what I had to do to protect the fleet. I'm glad she was able to prove her innocence, and I have wiped my hands clean of the subject. I have reconciled with General Zorah, and I hope she understands. I cannot allow petty warmongers destroy our people with foolish notions of reclaiming the homeworld."

"You'd rather have us hide like this for the rest of our lives, which you know full well we can't," Gerrel argued, "You're the kind of person that would have us sacrifice our dignity, pride and place in the galaxy just so you can make nice with soulless, murderous synthetics."

Koris scoffed, "Its not 'murder' to defend yourself. We wronged them."

Gerrel stopped walking and shoved a finger infront Koris' mask, "It is murder when that defense turns into the bombing of schools and playgrounds! It becomes murder when they bomb cities full of defenseless civilians!"

Koris was quick to shout back, "They were children! They had no idea how to differentiate between adult and child because of the simple programming  _we g_ ave them!"

"That is a load of shit and you know it!" Gerrel shot back, crossing his arms, voice reaching a new tone of loud, "They had reached AI status by the time we turned on them; they knew full well what children were! They were mindless murderers then, and they still are! They should be completely wiped out! I'd be more than happy to drop the MOABs from orbit myself and watch every geth  _burn_."

"You're a soldier," Koris stated in his same, calm tone, seemingly belittled by his fellow admiral, "All of you think the same; you get given a gun and told where to shoot and you follow those orders just like the geth do."

"Except this soldier is the one giving those soldiers the gun," Gerrel refuted, "I make the hard decisions you don't have the balls to do. You're a weak-willed suit-wetter, Koris, and I will not let your foolish ideals destroy our people's identity."

"Better that than our people themselves," Koris countered.

Shala finally had enough. She stopped, turned towards them and activated her omni-tool, accessing their suits. She overloaded their audiotory emulators with static, and they all yelled out in pain as it assaulted their eardrums, immediately shutting them both up. She stopped the static, deactivated her omni-tool, and they both looked at her in irritation.

"Both of you are like school children!" Raan yelled, waving her hands in the air, "Grow up and act like admirals, for ancestors' sake! Gerrel!" she turned to the admiral in question, "Your niece is going to get married soon, and you take the time to argue about the geth situation?"

Gerrel looked sheepish, seemingly wanting to melt away as his hands clasped behind his back to regain some of his professionalism, "I...yes, Raan, you're correct. I apologize and realize it is not a subject worthy of this location."

"We shall talk about it later," Koris hinted, shooting a glare in Gerrel's direction before turning back to Raan, bowing his head. Shala rolled her eyes at his gesture, turning back around and heading further inside, the two admirals behind her.  _They really are like children, needing to be scolded. Even Xen is better than this._

The three of them arrived at the podium that would seat the parents and the spouses, which was marginally larger than the original Admiral's podium. Shala let her hand glide over it, a soft smile passing over her features.  _My niece...my daughter...is getting married...Keelah, I never thought I'd see the day..._

She could only stand there and marvel at it. It was truly an historic moment in time.

And Shala would be there to witness it.

She shot a look at Gerrel and Koris, who looked about to rip at each other again. She sighed, rolling her eyes secretly behind her helmet.  _And I've just got to keep these two children in line..._

**{Loading...}**

_November 5, 2185_

_2034 hours._

_Crew's Quarters, Normandy-Class Stealth Frigate Normandy SR-2, Docked with the Rayya._

_Mechanic Peta'Yala vas Normandy._

This was it.

Peta sat there on his bunk, fiddling with his omni-tool, as if trying to delay the invitable. He had finished his shift in engineering, which had been coupled with boredom and the infuriating attempts by the human engineers, Gabriella and Kenneth, to start a conversation with him, which he had reluctantly agreed to, if only to alleviate concern. And only a day ago, Shepard had announced to the crew that Liara, Miranda, Grunt and Thane were leaving the ship to go to Illium to collect information on the Shadow Broker. Peta was certain they'd never find the master information specialist, so he had no fears on that end.

On his way back from engineering, he had bumped into, literally, the new krogan, the one the crew called Wrex, and the krogan had just laughed it off and told him to watch where he was going next time. After asking 'EDI' where the krogan was headed, he learned he had been heading up to Shepard's cabin to speak with him, with destroyed his attempts then to speak with him.

But now Wrex had left, and Shepard was now alone in his cabin, with EDI stating he was now preparing to go to bed. Perfect. Peta could kill him in his sleep; quick and painlessly, of course. He cracked his knuckles as he imagined killing Shepard; should he slit his throat, or shoot him in the head? Peta couldn't decide.

_Why am I even toying with those options? I'm not some sadistic psychopath! You're doing this for Tali and only for that, do not deviate from that course, Peta. Kill Shepard, but do not draw out his suffering, plain and simple! There's no need to think such...jovial thoughts!_

Peta realized that this was wrong...but his mind overruled his logic, and demanded blood. Shepard's blood. It was the only way he would truly get to be with Tali.  _Its the only chance I have. Take it before it slips from your grip. First, conjure an excuse to see him._ Peta racked his thoughts to find a satisfactory excuse, but the entire time, his original self continued to ask the same question.

_Am I a monster?_

Peta shook the thoughts away, not willing to let his morale crash around him on his moment of glory. After going through all the best excuses he could find, he eventually landed on the best one to tell the VI. When he was done, he took a deep breath, deactivated his omni-tool, and stood up, making sure not to disturb those sleeping in the room. As quietly as possible, he tapped the haptic interface on the door and opened it, stepping out onto the Crew Deck.

The lights in the Mess Hall were dimmed to complete darkness, with only the lights in the Med bay providing any respite. As he looked around, he noticed that the doors into the Port and Starboard Observation decks, Life Support, the Gunnery Station, the XO's Quarters and the Medical Bay were all locked. As silent as he could possibly be, he tip-toed over to the elevator, where he quietly tapped the door interface and stepped inside, immediately bringing up the catalogue and selecting Deck One. Just as the door closed behind him and locked however, the VI's voice popped up.

"We wish to access Deck One," the VI seemed to groan, "Provide a reason for this destination. Commander Shepard is currently under curfew."

Peta stood tall, desperately trying to not look suspicious and provided his carefully worded excuse, "I must speak with him...its about the crew's suspicions to me being onboard. I want to alleviate any concerns they may have by speaking to him. Do not wake him though; I'll just leave a note on his desk."

The VI seemed to process this information for a bit. Peta was sure he could feel it glaring at him, evaluating him and searching through his soul for his lie. But it couldn't; it was a simple VI, with the brain power of a pyjak. It couldn't possibly be suspicious. So what did he have to worry about?

That sent a shiver down his spine, but he didn't show it in his body language.

Finally, the VI responded, "I have processed your request. The Captain's Cabin will be unlocked for your use; you will only be permitted to leave a note, however. Waking the Commander is out of the question. He stated this explicitly, as did Miss Zorah."

Peta nodded, only realizing what the VI said when the elevator had begun its ascent to the top deck. Peta felt himself melt as he reached his epiphany.  _Please don't...please don't let that mean what I think it means..._

The elevator was going agonizingly slow, but he didn't know whether that was his imagination or how it operated. But he didn't care; all he cared about was the fact that Shepard wasn't sleeping alone; Tali was with him. Curled up next to him. His arm around her, holding her close. Both of them naked after a long night of heated-

Those thoughts fueled a fire in Peta's veins that he didn't realize he had. The thought of Tali's moans echoing through the cabin as that...human...moved inside her disgusted him and fueled an inner rage that was itching to burst forth. It made him stand more placidly, and his hand almost grabbed for the knife right there and then.

He kept his cool and waited patiently for the elevator to arrive at his destination, but now he was fully committed. The idea of the sexual things Shepard had done to his mate infuriated him to no end, and his blood was pumping. He felt his heart race at ridiculous speeds, his lungs pumping in air faster than he could breath it in. He was going to murder Shepard right infront of Tali; make her wake up to his blood soaked form. But it was necessary. He loved her too much to not do this.

You love her so much that you'll make her scream as she wakes up to a bloodied corpse?

_You truly are a monster, Peta'Yala vas...whatever you are. You're not even Peta'Yala anymore._

But those thoughts became more and more hollow as rage pushed down his more innocent side, a new side of Peta rising up to the top...a side he never thought he had...and definitely didn't want.

Love had changed him into a killer.

The door arrived and Peta practically stormed through and into the antechamber. He didn't even realize what he was doing until he was inside the actual cabin and descending down the stairs into the main part of it; his body moving like a robot, with a plotted destination and weapons locked on target. It wasn't long before he arrived at the left side of the bed, the man looking down on Shepard's slumbering form.

Activating his omni-tool, Peta unleashed his virus into the vessel's systems and made sure the VI couldn't see what he was about to do. Once done, he unsheathed the boot knife from under his veil, and brought it up. He looked upon Shepard's sleeping body one more time; taking in his features. He seemed so peaceful, snoring with a rough tone and body most likely completely naked under the sheets; muscle packed upon muscle overlaying his torso like puffs of cloud. Peta was practically bringing the knife to bear when he heard a snort from a familiar voice, and a shifting of the sheets in his peripheral vision.

He watched as a slender, pale grey-skinned, three-fingered arm wrapped itself around Shepard and stayed there, squeezing him. It was then that Peta's rage dissipated as his eyes locked onto Tali's form; and he froze in place, left in complete awe.

There she was, naked, and her face unveiled to the world.

He moved around the bed and sat down on the right side, eyes never leaving Tali's face. She was simply beautiful, and he loved the sound of her calm, peaceful, cute snores. He let his eyes wander; her long, raven black hair flowing over her skin, the freckles on her face, and her smooth cheeks, supported by supple lips; delicate to kiss. Her slender frame was hidden under the sheets, and she pressed herself tight against Shepard, but Peta could definitely see that her bosom was much bigger than her suit informed the world it was. He realized, with all the certainty in his heart, that she was worth murdering anyone for.

She was the most beautiful person he had ever lay eyes upon.

A sudden, suss thought entered his mind and he contemplated very much. He looked at her and wanted to...to taste her. He needed it. He wanted it. A precursor to what was to come. He sighed heavily and realized what would happen if he did this; he would get sick, he could possibly die, but at the moment, he didn't care. It seemed she was worth any risk.

Very carefully, he removed his mask, and listened to the hiss that came from his visor as it was removed. He gasped silently as the air tickled his face, but it felt fantastic on his skin. He just couldn't imagine what Tali's skin would feel like when he finally made love to her, in their own bed, on the Flotilla. He moved forward and across the bed, careful to not disturb it too much and leaned forward towards the nape of her neck.

He planted his lips firmly against her throat, and kissed it. She tasted wonderful, and that was just her throat. He grinned happily when she gave a moan of delight, a smile creasing her face as she seemed to lean into him, but he quickly retracted, not wanting her to wake up. To think, that pretty face would be covered in blood in the morning...

The thought died as he moved in for the ultimate prize. He cupped her cheek and she cupped his, subconsciously, and he closed his eyes, lips locking with hers. He moaned quietly with pure euphoria, her taste unlike anything he had ever experienced. She just tasted so fantastic, like the taste of an exotic food. He felt himself drawing out the kiss, strongly considering opening her mouth and allowing their tongues to lock and dance in each other's mouths, but he quickly dropped that thought. That would only wake her up.

He finally drew back, needing breath and he found himself smirking and the huge, satisfied smile on Tali's face, the quarian moaning in her sleep. One word rolled off her lips, and Peta just kept on smiling, hand still cupping her cheek as hers fell back to the sheets.

"Marcus..." she mumbled in her sleep, reaching for Peta, oblivious to the real man's identity.

Peta's smirk immediately died at the mention of the name, and he found himself cringing away from Tali's hands. Her smile stayed on her face as she turned over and wrapped herself back around 'Marcus', face scrunched up and pressing into the man's back as she continued to moan happily in her sleep. Peta felt his fists clench in pure, unchained anger, and found his innocent side pressed away again, hand grabbing his mask and putting it back on, picking up the knife again.

And when he looked at Tali again, all he could see was  _him._

When he kissed her, she only thought of  _him._

Who took her virginity?  _He did._

Who was the first to look upon her face?  _He was._

 _He_ had defiled  _her_  body. His disgusting...prick, had been inside  _her_. It was tainted, he had destroyed her innocence.

Peta growled, a low, animalistic growl. Whoever this was, it was not Peta'Yala anymore.

He raised his knife, unable to control his actions.  _I'm going to rip him apart! That bosh'tet human will drown in a sea of his own blood!_

His growl turned into a loud snarl as he charged across the bed, uncaring as to who woke up anymore. He landed on top of Shepard, turning him over in one fluid movement as he straddled the man's waist, raising the knife above his head and plunging down into the man's forehead...

Shepard's eyes shot open and a hand shot up, grabbing Peta's wrist midswing. He held it there but Peta was quick to react. His other hand punched Shepard across the face, taking him by surprise and causing him to drop his guard. Peta raised his knife again, and plunged back down, but Shepard dodged it narrowly, the blade creating a long scratch across the side of his forehead as he did. Suddenly, Peta brought the blade back around, and prepared to stab the man in the side of the head...

...only for a three-fingered hand to wrap around the knife arm and for Peta's infuriated gaze to spin towards Tali, who now was wide awake, the sheets falling off her and revealing one breast to the world, but she didn't care; all that mattered to her was defending her mate, and her protective mode had kicked in. Her eyes widened in surprise at who she saw attacking her fiancee.

"P-P-Peta?" She gasped.

Peta, no longer the man he was, didn't care who he attacked anymore, he leapt off Shepard and lunged at Tali, blade moving in an arc, but Tali was faster. Her other arm shot up and hooked Peta across the face, allowing her to twist the knife from his grip and cause it to fall harmlessly onto the side of the bed. Tali moved to strike him again, but Peta was faster, the quarian, either blinded by his animalistic vehemence or by pure stupidity, lunged his head forward, helmet smashing into Tali's forehead in a headbutt.

She was completely taken back by the attack, shocked and stunned as she cradled her forehead, a piece of glass breaking off Peta's helmet from the crack and causing a cut on her forehead, red blood leaking from the wound. By this point, the old Peta would have stopped. But this wasn't Peta anymore; and with Tali stunned and disorientated, she never saw what happened next as Peta retrieved the knife and swung down,  _hard_.

Tali yelped and gasped at the same time as Peta's blade sunk deep into her chest, red blood gushing from the wound he had created inbetween her breasts. He twisted the blade deeper with a snarl and Tali could only look at him with wide eyes and a shocked face. Eventually, she got wind of her senses and tried to shove him off, but to no avail. Peta let go of the blade, letting it hang from Tali's chest before removing it, a gush of blood pouring from the wound as Tali rolled off the bed, falling head first onto the floor, sheets coming with her. Peta dry heaved and turned towards Shepard, who had been looking at Tali in horror, tears brimming in his eyes before he turned to Peta, a rage in his own eyes.

_Oh yes. Fight me Shepard._

He lunged forward, but this time, Shepard was ready.

Like an annoying insect, Shepard merely swatted Peta's knife hand away, causing the blade to clatter harmlessly against the floor next to the bed. He clasped a hand around Peta's throat and began to tighten, absolute rage easily seen in his eyes. Without a second thought, Shepard moved to the side, and Peta's face suddenly acellerated towards the bedside table.

Shepard slammed Peta's face into the table three times; once severely cracked the mask, second destroyed the mask, shattering it, and the third time almost knocked him unconscious as Shepard then let go of his throat, tossing Peta's close-to-comatose form onto the floor as he leapt from the bed, rushing to Tali's side as he picked up his omni-tool, not caring how naked he was. Peta couldn't see what was going on as he gingerly tried to raise himself from the ground to see what had happened, but he did see the orange-glow. He could hear a sob, followed by a tone full of worry and authority.

"This is Commander Shepard to Doctor Chakwas!" He practically yelled, "Medical emergency in the Captain's Quarters! Get her ASAP! I repeat, medical emergency!"

Peta, coming to his senses, recovered from his blood rage. He didn't know what caused it, but it had happened, and everything that had been Peta had been wiped away as he transformed into that feral beast. But now he was back. Of course, he didn't remember a thing, so when he came to and examined the large bump forming on his forehead, he was obviously wandering what was going on. He remembered coming up to the Captain's Quarters, but everything blacked out after that. Then he remembered kissing Tali...but he must have dreamt it...

Well he was here now; why was he on the floor and why was there a bump on his forehead. He remembered his mission and moved to unsheathe on his knife, only to find it in his peripheral vision, discarded on the floor, the serated blade sparking with red blood that was still wet.  _Wait...I already it?_

He looked up, but noticed that the sheets had been torn from the bed and lay on the other side for some reason, and Shepard, for some reason, was on the other side of the bed, naked, leaning over something while...sobbing? What was he sobbing about?

Peta rose to his feet, ableit stunned and disoriented, and his head pounded from the blow on it, but he managed to get to his feet and look over the bed at what Shepard was leaning over. He saw that he was nude and cradling someone in his arms; she was female, had big breasts, grey skin, raven black hair, freckles, and three-fingered hands and toes, but her smooth cheeks were dried with fresh tears. It was then that he remembered who this was.

_He stated this explicitly, as did Miss Zorah._

_He cupped her cheek and she cupped his, subconsciously, and he closed his eyes, lips locking with hers. He moaned quietly with pure euphoria, her taste unlike anything he had ever experienced. She just tasted so fantastic, like the taste of an exotic food._

It was Tali, nude, and in all her glory, and she was beauti-

Then he noticed the stab wound inbetween in her breasts, which pumped out red blood every second. She weakly held onto Shepard, who held onto her back, the man sobbing as he desperately tried to clog the wound with his hands, which were slick with her blood. Peta felt anger as he promised punishment to those that hurt Tali, but then a new memory played in his mind. And he shuddered at it. Cringed at it. Spat at it.

_Tali yelped and gasped at the same time as Peta's blade sunk deep into her chest, red blood gushing from the wound he had created inbetween her breasts. He twisted the blade deeper with a snarl and Tali could only look at him with wide eyes and a shocked face._

He had...no he couldn't have...oh keelah...

That wound was his fault. He had tried to murder Shepard, and had ended up stabbing Tali instead...he had stabbed the love of his life...

_Oh Keelah, NO!_

He lunged forward with tears brimming in his eyes, but a voice yelled out behind him, full of venom and anger. Peta stopped dead in his tracks, and saw Shepard looking at the entrance to his cabin, cheeks dry with streaks of shed tears. Peta spun around and saw what he saw.

There Kal'Reegar stood, Valkyrie heavy rifle out and set on stun rounds, aimed directly at Peta. Behind him was Samara, body aglow with biotics and Mordin and Lia, the former with a SMG and omni-tool active, and the latter with a medkit, accompanied by a worried Doctor Chakwas. Kal glared daggers at Peta, and his words cut deep.

"Get.  _ **The fuck.**_ Away. From her," Kal hissed, grip tightening on his weapon. Peta gulped and held his hands in the air, trying to look for words, but finding none. It was then that he realized his face was exposed, mask having shattered.  _I didn't mean to. I only meant to kill Shepard...none of this was supposed to happen! Keelah, ancestors have mercy I didn't mean to..._

Chakwas rushed past Reegar, with Lia and Mordin in tow, all three of them rushing past Peta, Lia giving him a rather violent shove, as they all crowded around Tali's form. She had lost alot of blood. Peta turned and watched as Shepard's body wracked with grief and worry.

Chakwas spoke, voice kindly and full of sympathy, "Shepard, please lay her down. We've got a portable bed to put her on so she can be taken to the medical bay, but I need you to lay her down. Marcus?"

"Please Karin-" Shepard pleaded, and Peta could feel the sorrow in his voice.

"I will do everything in my power to save her Marcus, but you must put her down. There's nothing more you can do," Chakwas pleaded.

"We won't let her die," Lia added, "We simply won't. And with my knowledge on my people's physiology, we can save her if we act quickly."

Mordin added his own ten cents worth, "Advanced technology. Minor stab wound. Easily healed, but loss of much blood. Have to clog or she will die."

Shepard eventually gave in, laying Tali on the ground as the three doctors got to work preparing the portable bed for Tali while Mordin began to insert medi-gel into her wound to clog it. Lia opened her medkit, and handed the professor the necessary tools he needed, while Chakwas laid out the bed. Peta turned from the scene, Shepard grabbing a pair of shorts from his couch and sliding them on.

Peta turned to see that Kal was now standing a meter away from him, Samara sharing an equal glare. Kal was about to speak, but then the door opened again, and Wrex rushed in, a look of confusion on his face.

"What the hell is-" the krogan's look lowered on Shepard, who regarded the massive krogan with a sad gaze. Wrex's look turned sympathetic, "What happened?"

Shepard looked at Peta with pure hate in his eyes, "This piece of shit infiltrated our home and attempted to murder me. When Tali tried to stop him, he stabbed her in the chest. So I rammed his head into a table."

Wrex nodded, "Good, the krogan way," the krogan then turned to Peta and walked right up to him, his face inches from the quarian's as he towered above him, "As for you pyjak, I should tear your head off and feed it to my pet Urz. Noone hurts my little quarian niece and gets away with it."

"Enough Wrex," Shepard stated, to everyone's surprise, and all looks snapped to the spectre. He shrugged, eyes still filled with hate and locked on Peta, "He won't die. No, he doesn't deserve that. I let this son of a bitch into our home; I trusted him, and he broke that trust. You guys wouldn't know what I do to traitors, because I've never had one on my crew. Well, its simple; I let them  _suffer._ Let Peta live; we'll see how smug he is when he's put up for treason."

The whole room went silent and Wrex eyed Shepard with a dissatisfied look before shooting Peta glare before he moved off and away, moving towards the place where Tali was. He heard Mordin try to argue against it, but Wrex was having none of it as he kneeled by the quarian, and to his surprise, offering soothing words.

"You're a tough alpha female Tali," Wrex reassured her, "You're the mate of the most powerful battlemaster who ever lived, and you put down my brother all by yourself! Don't let this pyjak put you down!"

Kal moved forward and let his weapon bump against Peta's forehead, causing him to turn around. The quarian shook his head, "I will enjoy watching you get exiled, you bosh'tet. I used to remember you from school. I used to stand up for you, as did Tali. This is how you repay her? I thought you loved her?"

_I do. Keelah, I do! Please, you have to-_

"I'll enjoy watching you burn you son of a bitch," and before Peta could do anything, Kal rammed the butt of his rifle into Peta's face.

Darkness was all the quarian saw.

_I didn't mean to..._

**{Loading...}**

_November 6, 2185_

_0746 hours._

_Parking Lot, Dracon Trade Center, Nos Astra, Illium._

_Information Broker Liara T'Soni, First Lieutenant Miranda Lawson, Soldier Urdnot Grunt, Assassin Thane Krios._

There was a loud whine as the skycar descended from Nos Astra's skyline above, homing in on the large Dracon Trade building down below. Miranda piloted the vehicle while Liara sat next to her, Thane and Grunt in the back seat; the drell assassin calmly meditating while Grunt seemed eager for battle. Liara just looked down at the Dracon Trade Center with a determined gaze, eyes filled with the excitement of finally being able to take down the Shadow Broker, once and for all.

The Dracon Trade Center was quite a tall skyscraper; easily dwarfing the smaller ones below it. The main parking lot was located near the top of the building, with six stories above it, and another eighteen below it. The Dracon insignia; a three-segmented orange triangle with three 'wires' coming out of the middle, was stamped at the top of the building, just below the roof, and just above the car park, the words 'Dracon Trade Center' in bold, white lettering, with the insignia once again stamped above it.

The main parking lot itself was extended from the main building in a bulbous T-shaped platform; two levels of parking were located on it, with staff parking being undercover, and the main parking ontop, landing lights aligned around the perimeter. The platform moved towards the building and then connected with a flight of stairs leading upwards onto the entrance platform, where stock market feed was transmitted through large holographic blue consoles, the main entrance having the words 'Entrance C' pasted over it. Many people of numerous races wandered about in extravagant dress and clothing; most of them being humans, asari, turians and salarians, the biggest being volus. There was even a en elcor, from what Miranda saw of the place.

Liara suddenly spoke up as they neared the main landing pad, "Sekat is in the Baria Frontiers offices; they occupy the third floor."

Miranda nodded and found a place for the skycar to land, bringing it down on that spot. After another second of hovering, she cut power to the engines and the skycar dropped, doors shooting open as they did. Miranda immediately motioned for her team to holster their weapons; they didn't want to walk into a trade center wielding weapons or Nos Astra police might see it as a terrorist attack; they had all learnt well from human history, especially after 2001 9/11 terrorist attack back on Earth.

Miranda holstered her SMG, followed by Thane doing the same with his pistol and Grunt reluctantly folding his claymore shotgun away. Liara hadn't even brought out her Locust SMG, the asari preferring not to arouse suspicion. They quickly exited the vehicle and made a beeline up the stairwell and straight for the entrance, all four of them wanting this mission over as quickly as possible; Grunt, preferring it to end with at least one death.

Liara took the lead, and Miranda simply lead Thane and Grunt behind her. As they moved past, many onlookers shot disturbed glances at them. The ex-Cerberus operative had to admit that a shotgun-wielding krogan and a drell assassin moving towards a building like this did look very odd and would send some eyes rolling, but she didn't care. They wouldn't be eye-rolling them when, or if, the Shadow Broker's private army turned up.

In a matter of no time, they had reached the entrance to the building, but were quickly stopped by two security officers, both of them asari, wielding battle rifles. They didn't wear any armor aside from the medium breastplate strapped to their chests. The left one approached, her skin a darker shade of purple than the usual asari blue, "Hold it," she then chanced a look at the krogan and drell behind them before looking back at Liara, "We're not about to let a krogan wander in here, and definitely not a drell assassin. Leave now."

"They're protection," Liara replied, jabbing a finger at Miranda, "I've hired them to protect me. I am Liara T'Soni, you might know me from the news feeds. I've come to talk with a Baria Frontiers executive, a man named Tau Sekat."

The asari raised an eyebrow and shared a look with her co-worker, who simply shook her head with an expressionless gaze. She nodded and turned back to Liara, "Yeah, I've heard of her, but I can't know you're her. I'll have to check in."

Liara crossed her arms, as did Miranda, both of them shooting the asari a smug grin, "Then go ahead; ask Sekat," Liara suggested, waving her along.

The asari rolled her eyes and brought up her omni-pad, bringing the glowing contrapion around her wrist up to her mouth as she spoke, "Get me Executive Sekat, please. This is Nelyna, we've got four people wanting to meet him. I just want to check through with him."

A few moments passed as Nelyna waited for a response. They all waited, the only sound being that of the silent chatter behind them and the sound of heavy traffic passing through Nos Astra's skyline. Finally, Nelyna nodded, and deactivated her omni-pad, lowering her wrist and stepping to the side, "Sekat says he'll see you in his office; third floor, Office Nine."

"Thank you," with that Liara, uncrossed her arms and moved past the two officers, palming the haptic interface and opening it as they passed through, Miranda motioning for Grunt and Thane to follow behind. They moved through a small corridor before hitting another door, which allowed them to move into the Transit Terminal of the building, which took up most of the first floor.

Above were the words 'Transit Terminal' in orange lettering, and a service desk behind tinted windows, where people from all races, almost, moved about and went about their economic buisness. To the left was an elevator leading upwards and to the right was a stairway moving upwards. In the end, they all followed Liara's lead, which was moving through the crowd, which quickly dispersed at the sight of a massive krogan in their midst, and into the elevator.

The elevator wasn't like the one on the Normandy; it had the smooth architecture and sheen that came with asari design, which was just another dot point to a list of reasons why Illium was practically the planet-bound version of the Citadel, just with no Council or any real laws to abide by. And it was alot more dirty in its criminal underworld.

As the doors closed, six options were given to them; the First Level, which was the Transit Terminal, the Second Level which was Synthetic Insights, the Third was Baria Frontiers, the Fourth was Serrice Council, who also shared some offices with ExoGeni Corporation, the Fifth was Rosenkov Materials and Binary Helix, and the Sixth belonged to Elanus Risk Control Services.

Liara immediately hit the button for Baria Frontiers, tapping her floor impatiently as the elevator began to ascend. Grunt grunted, the massive krogan feeling pretty useless at the moment. Thane found the need to speak up at that moment as Liara continued to watch the speed dial on the side of the elevator and Miranda just crossed her arms, watching the door.

"I hope this Sekat is an honest man," Thane stated, breaking the awkward silence, "I've encountered many dishonest men in my line of work, and they are not a likable group. Do you trust this man, Dr. T'Soni?"

Liara didn't seem to hear the man's words and Miranda had to practically turn around and elbow her in the side to let her know he was waiting for an answer. She gasped and quickly nodded, blushing a bit as she turned around before pushing it away, turning to face the drell, "I do. He betrayed the Shadow Broker, and is willing to help us take him down."

Thane shook his head, "A man who has betrayed once can betray again. It becomes a cycle for a man, especially a man who is a salarian. The correct answer would be that you do not trust this man; trust is a hard thing to come by, and should be reserved between friends and family, not of those who claim to be of assistance," he stopped for a second, beginning to cough, but eventually got a hold of himself, and turned back to Liara, awaiting an answer.

She rolled her eyes, "Shepard betrayed Cerberus, but you trust him, do you not?"

The drell shook his head again, a habit he was getting into when talking to the asari, "Shepard never worked for Cerberus, and neither did he trust them. It is only treachery if you have earned their trust, become their friends and served under their cause, only to turn your back on it. Shepard never believed in Cerberus' goals, neither did he share them. He was never their friend, and he didn't earn their trust, or them, his. Shepard did not betray Cerberus, but they betrayed humanity."

Liara was lost for words but before she could open her mouth to say more, the elevator stopped, pinged and opened up, allowing them access to the Baria Frontiers building. Three people with suitcases moved to get in, but stopped when Grunt passed by them, followed by Thane, Miranda and Liara, before they finally stepped into the elevator and hurriedly pressed the next level, obviously not wanting to stick around long enough to find out what a krogan would do to the place.

"I understand the need to bring me here," Grunt groaned, "But the lack of enemies to kill is starting to annoy me."

"Calm you senses, young one," Thane tamed, "Keep your urges in check. Knowing our luck, we shall find combat soon, not that I desire it."

Grunt just snorted at that and they all continued towards the specified office that the officer had listed as Office Nine. The offices were like a maze; everywhere you went, there was just office after office, people shouting across the hall at each other to do this or that, while others ran about, trying to get work done. It was a busy place; by far. Mostly asari and humans worked in the offices, but there was the occassional turian or salarian as well and, as expected, a couple of volus here and there, being the economical geniuses that they were heralded as.

They moved up the steps and eventually moved across a large glass balcony area inside the building's central area, allowing them a view of the work floor below. This area was empty, apart from two asari who seemed to be chatting each other up on a morning break, holding mugs of coffee in their hands.

They progressed across this area until they finally reached the reception desk preceeding Office Ten. Liara motioned for them to follow her forward, all of them moving towards at a faster pace. The man at reception, a turian, looked up at them and nodded, hitting a button on his terminal and waited for a few seconds, before Sekat's face then popped up.

"Yes?" Sekat asked in his usual salarian 'hurry-this-up' tone.

"T'Soni and her bodyguard are here to see you sir," the turian declared.

Sekat's eyes seemed to widened for a second before he then nodded, "Right, let them in then. Let's not keep them waiting."

The turian nodded, and turned from his terminal to look at them, "Mister Sekat will see you now."

Liara didn't even wait for the turian to finish before she dashed across the reception area, Miranda and her fireteam in tow, hitting the green haptic interface for Sekat's office door and moving inside without a second thought or hesitation.

Sekat's office was quite spacious; it had a single, steel desk in the middle, facing the door with two terminals, a vidscreen attached to the left wall, and 'Baria Frontiers' labelled on the front of his desk, with his full name on a badge ontop of said desk. A massive, three by three meter pane of glass served as the back wall for his office, allowing him to observe the Transit Terminal down below.

Sekat sat behind his desk, hands clasped ontop of it, watching them; and for a salarian, Miranda could only find this man exceptionally ugly. He wore a sickening shade of green for a business suit, and his eyes looked sunken into his face; the areas under his eyes didn't have rings, but twin streaks of reddened skin, making him look like somekind of insomniac. Even the horns that were twisted on the top of his head looked especially...wrong.

Sekat spoke, his voice gravelly and annoying as a weary smile crossed his face, "Doctor T'Soni," as they all moved into the room, the door shut behind them, allowing them some privacy. Sekat quickly pulled a data disk out from his draw and placed it ontop of his desk, eyes eerily fixed on Liara, "I assume you're here for the Broker's location?"

Miranda, being an excellent judge of character, took notice of the salarian's shaking hands, and apparently Thane did as well. Why was the salarian shaking? Something wasn't right; why did she feel like they were being watched? Was she being paranoid? She shot a look at Thane, who looked back, nodding. No, he was feeling it as well; and if the assassin could feel it, you knew something wasn't quite right.

The smile dropped from Sekat's face upon Liara's answer, "Yes, I am. Thank you Sekat," she reached for the disk, but a three-fingered hand immediately clasped over it, Liara's eyes shooting angrily to Sekat's, "What are you doing, Sekat? We had a deal!"

"I know," Sekat replied, voice shaky and sounding terrified, "But I need to know this won't be traced back to me. That your involvement...won't be traced back to me. I don't want the Broker coming after me in case you fail."

 _Why is he so certain we'll fail?_ Miranda mused, not liking where this was going in her mind.

Liara smiled meekly, her innocent eyes doing nothing to hide the fire in her eyes, "Oh, but we won't fail Sekat, I promise you that. I'm going to  _destroy_ the Shadow Broker and everything he stands for! I'm going to bring his entire network down and I'm going to save my mate!"

Sekat nodded frantically, "But just in case, will I be safe?" The man was close to skaking uncontrollably now. Miranda raised an eyebrow and quietly approached Grunt, tapping the massive krogan on the shoulder. He looked down at her with a fixed frown, with Miranda telling him to unholster his claymore. He smiled knowingly, pulling it out and letting the heavy shotgun fall into his grip, Thane following suit with his phalanx.

"You are prepared for trouble," Thane whispered to her, "I am not the only one who believes this to be a trap."

"The amount we've fallen into?" Miranda whispered back, a smile tugging at her lips, "Yeah, you bet I am."

She returned to Liara's side, letting the asari's body hide the SMG she was now drawing.

Liara nodded, standing from the desk and holding out her hand expectantly for the disk, "I assure you Sekat, you will not even be connected to me. Now, the disk?"

Sekat stood from his chair, gulping, "Good, then this exchange is over," the salarian shakily hit a button under his desk, "I'm sorry about this Liara."

"What...?" Liara was about to ask, only to be cut off as the door shot open behind them.

Four Shadow Broker mercs, clad in pitch black armor, with two salarians, a female human with a missile launcher and a turian with a Firestorm flamethrower, moved into the room and raised their weapons, not even hesitating in opening fire. Thane was easily prepared for them, his right leg arching in a cresent kick as it swatted the turian's flamethrower aside, allowing him to continue with a left hook to the side of his face, followed by a spinning hook kick with the same leg from before, hitting the turian, once again, across the face. Before he could recover, Thane aimed his phalanx pistol and fired a clean shot into the merc's skull, putting him down.

The woman with the missile launcher attempted to fire at Thane, but he was already pulsing with biotics as she did, a biotic push sending her flying into the doorway as he blocked a overhead blow from one salarian, allowing him to punch him in the mercenary's stomach, winding him.

Miranda, seeing that Thane could handle this, turned back to the desk, only to see that Sekat had picked up the data disk and was moving to flee, head turning to see that Miranda had spotted him, "Sekat! He's escaping!"

Liara spun around and attempted to hit the fleeing salarian with a biotic warp, but couldn't get an appropriate aim. But, in the end, it turned out they wouldn't need it, as a familiar war cry was heard, followed by 500 pounds of krogan ramming into Sekat, most likely breaking the salarian's right arm from the sheer impact.

But Grunt didn't even stop; and in no time, the krogan supersoldier had shoved Sekat through the window, the glass shattering on impact as Grunt fell after him, Sekat held under the krogan's sheer weight. Screaming was heard below, followed by a loud thud, and the breaking of bones echoed through the facility. Miranda nodded to Liara, who immediately leapt after Grunt, using her biotics to glide to the ground.

Miranda spun around and ran through the doorway to assist Thane, but it seemed pointless now. As she returned, she looked at the three dead bodies on the ground, followed by a fourth as the drell finished off his last target by snapping the salarian's neck. With a crack and roll of his own neck, Thane faced Miranda, cold eyes hiding the combat sense he felt.

"There will be more," the drell explained to her, turning to continue back down to the office area below, "We must make haste."

Miranda nodded to him, and aimed her SMG straight ahead, jogging behind Thane as they continued.

They reached the balcony area, where six mercenaries were currently waiting for them, two with missile launchers. They fired, streaks of blue light shooting past the two of them as they impacted walls behind them, exploding in flame as they ripped pieces of wall apart and sent people running away, screaming. The two asari from before, the ones on the morning break, now lay dead on the ground, holes drilled into their foreheads and purple blood leaking onto the ground.

Miranda's SMG barked, a shot catching a human mercenary full in the shields, causing the man to return in kind, a return bark from his Scimitar shotgun hitting Miranda's kinetic barriers full on and draining them significantly. With no cover however, she couldn't afford to find any and immediately fell back on her biotics, body glowing blue as she picked the mercenary up in a blue caccoon of light and tossed him over the balcony.

Thane was already in action, kicking one turian inbetween the thighs, which caused him to double over. He then picked the turian up and used his biotics to toss him at the first launcher wielding merc, allowing him to spin and face the other merc, a phalanx pistol shot centered dead on the barrel of the weapon; causing the ammunition inside to detonate and the wielder to disappear in a huge explosion; the heat of which boiled Miranda's skin.

The balcony groaned as a large hole was now left in it, and Thane disabled the second launcher wielder, proceeding to pistol whip the soldier across the face, followed by a biotic punch to the chest, and a final pistol shot to the skull.

In a matter of no time, they had defeated the rest of the mercs and made there way down. They encountered more mercs, but were able to defeat them and reach Liara and Grunt on the Transit Terminal floor via elevator.

People had gathered in large crowds around the area, and Miranda and Thane practically had to squeeze through to reach their comrades. Upon reaching it, they found a very gruesome sight.

Grunt stood over Sekat's pulverized body, which was almost as flat as a pancake as every bone in his dead body had been smashed to bloody bits, gore leaking over the floor. Liara stood beside the grinning krogan, who kicked Sekat's corpse with a chuckle, and looked very satisfied with herself. As they approached, and the asari turned to face them, Miranda saw why; the data disk in one hand.

"We've got the data," Liara declared, Miranda wiping blood off her brow as Thane holstered his phalanx, "We should leave before the police arrive."

"You're not going anywhere ma'am," Nelyna, from the door, quickly approached them, her SMG aiming at the asari, "I'm taking you into custody for the murder of Tau Sekat!"

"Excuse me?" Liara laughed, pointing at Sekat's cadaver that Grunt was still playing around with, "He attacked us! We came here to retrieve some information, and the next thing we know, we're getting attacked by Shadow Broker troops! He deserved that!"

Nelyna shook her head, "You have no proof, and with your reputation, anything's possible," four more guards joined her, "Drop your weapons and put your hands behind your heads," she turned to the krogan, motioning for another man, who held a large arc projector, to aim at Grunt, "You too, krogan, or we'll shock you to death."

Grunt looked to Miranda, who in turn, looked to Liara. They couldn't just surrender now; they had to get this information back to Shepard.

Liara looked about to open her mouth before a flash sounded behind them. They all looked around and Miranda widened her eyes as she saw an explosion rip through the service desk and engulf multiple people in deathly flame. And it wasn't the only explosion; more flashes appeared all over the building, and it was all Miranda could do to shove Liara to the side as one explosion quickly engulfed Grunt, Thane and herself in fire.

In the distance, all anyone could see was a massive set of explosions tearing through the Dracon Trade Center.

**{Loading...}**

_November 6, 2185_

_0721 hours._

_Mess Hall, Normandy-Class Stealth Frigate Normandy SR-2, Docked with the Rayya._

_Commander Marcus Lee Shepard._

Marcus Shepard, now clad in his civilian clothing, could only glare at the medical bay doors, daring them to open, to bring him good news of some description. The events of last night had shaken him to the core, the spectre letting tears flow for the first time infront of people who weren't Tali. And right now, said quarian was fighting for her life inside that room.

Doctor Chakwas had placed Tali on the bed and sedated her, and she, Mordin and Lia had rushed her out of the cabin as fast as possible into the med bay. Marcus had wanted to stay with her, but Chakwas had quickly shooed him out, stating they needed to stabilize her condition and do surgery if necessary. She had told him to get some rest, but he had flat out rejected, instead waiting outside the med bay patiently.

And here he was, way into the early stages of the morning, still waiting, rings hidden under his eyes. He had never been as terrified as he was now, not even on Akuze when he was fleeing Thresher Maws, or even on Tuchanka during Grunt's Rite of Passage when he had to fight one. Never had been so afraid.

Just seeing Tali like that in his arms; bleeding profusely, weakly mumbling his name had set him into tears; he had felt so helpless, so powerless, so pathetic. The love of his life, bleeding out, and all he could do was wait for the cavalry to arrive. And then there was Peta...oh, that son of a bitch...

Peta. The very name made his blood boil. He should have listened to Samara's warnings, but he had shrugged them off like they were nothing.  _I once again screwed up, and my ignorance could cost Tali her life. Oh god, can I not do anything that doesn't involve getting people killed? First the Rayya, now this..._ Another tear escaped his eye at the thought, but he wiped it away, not wanting to enter a hysterical frenzy in the middle of the Mess Hall.

Oh, but that piece of shit was lucky Marcus  _could_ be merciful. At times, he didn't even know why he let the fucker live. He had killed the Cerberus operative that had boarded their ship a month ago, but when it came to Tali's wannabe murderer, he left him live? Why? So he could watch him suffer? Watch him lose everything as he was exiled from his home? Was that it?

Marcus could only reach one conclusion; yes, it was. He wanted to watch Peta put on trial for his actions, for him to be exiled and for him to lose everything he owned. He wanted him to  _suffer_. Marcus would  _enjoy_ it. Peta had tried to take the person he loved most away from, and that was the death penalty in his books.

Kal had knocked Peta out after those events and he and Madi had dragged his unconscious form to the airlock, where he was later picked up this morning by a marine squad and arrested, the quarian now awaiting trial. Shala had rushed to the scene to find out what happened and he had informed her, the quarian bursting into tears. He had held her until she recovered, but after that, Raan had changed. She angrily stated that Peta would be exiled for this, and she would make sure of it.

Marcus had agreed to attend the trial later this afternoon, and when, if, Tali recovered in time, she would attend as well. Kasumi and Garrus, along with Kal and Madi also wanted to attend, expressing anger at his actions and wanting to see him burn just as much as him. Wrex was coming as well, constantly exclaiming that noone harmed his 'quarian niece.' Even the brutal krogan chieftain had a soft spot in his heart for family, and to him, Tali was like the niece he never had, especially since Tali's shotgun skills largely came from Wrex when he trained her two years ago on the SR-1 Normandy.

He had also apologized to Samara, who had accepted his apology humbly; everything was sorted, and Marcus was left to his thoughts outside the medical bay, eagerly waiting for any piece of news, good or bad; but he sincerely hoped it was good.

After another twenty minutes, the doors to the medical bay opened, and Marcus expected Mordin, Karin or Lia to come out, to inform him whether Tali was going to make it or not. To his surprise however, it was actually Zaeed, the grizzled mercenary limping out of the med bay, groaning as he cradled an ice pack to his forehead.

"Zaeed?" Marcus asked, his demeanour lightening up slightly at knowing the merc would be okay, "You tough son of a bitch! Nothing can take you down, can it?"

The man seemed startled as he turned to face Marcus, his left, cybernetic eye locking with his own eyes. Zaeed, after a second, let a chuckle erupt from his lips and he limped over to where the spectre sat, sliding to the ground with a loud, drawn out groan as he sat down next to him.

"Yeah," Zaeed coughed, "I've had worse."

Marcus snorted, punching the old man's shoulder, "Bullshit you have."

"You bet I fucking have," Zaeed growled, "Try having one entire leg blown completely off. I finished the job, but I had to use all the credits I earned on getting a fucking cloned limb. A complete waste of my goddam time."

Marcus whistled, "Damn Zaeed, you've been through thick and thin. But cloned limbs cost at least nine hundred thousand a  _piece._ That's close to a million credits; what kind of contract did you get to earn that much?"

Zaeed sighed, heavily dropping the icepack from his head to reveal a thin scar across the top that crisscrossed over its previous counterpart, a testament to the one he got from Vido as well, "Some high-living cosmopolitian shithead. Approached me with a contract that involved using my team, at the time, to blow up this big ass fucking base. The catch was that it was guarded by a platoon of turian blackwatch commandos at the time; real fucking hardasses. One of the bastards called in a fighter strike; that's how I lost my fucking leg. And like every other goddam mission, I lost my entire squad."

"Turian Blackwatch?" Marcus asked incredulously, "You mean you fought turian special forces?"

"And they had two Cabals," Zaeed coughed again, "Took both their heads off with my Mantis; fucking beautiful shot. I've loved that weapon ever since. I don't think anyone has ever managed to one shot two turian cabals with a Mantis sniper rifle before. I hold the fucking record."

"Bet that pissed off some of the brass back in the Hierarchy," Marcus declared.

"You bet it did," Zaeed laughed so hard he almost choked, "I remember that bastard trying to hire me to protect him because he thought the Council had sent a spectre to kill him; turns out he was right, but they had sent two spectres, and they were both turian."

Marcus guffawed, the conversation taking his mind off of Tali for a mere moment, "Why did they send  _two_ spectres to kill one rich guy? Wouldn't you only need one?"

The bounty hunter snorted, "You'd think so, but the Council at the time was so convinced that if this guy could hire people skillful enough to take out two Cabals and a platoon of Blackwatch commandos, then he'd hire protection good enough to protect him. So instead of sending every spectre they had, they sent two of their finest."

"Who?" Marcus asked.

"Didn't know then, but found out on the news later," Zaeed grinned at him, "One was this Nihlus Kryik and the other was none other than Saren Arterius himself. Apparently Saren killed the guards, and let Nihlus finish him off. Poor bastard."

Marcus grin dropped alittle, "They sent Saren?"

"Yeah," Zaeed looked at him, smiling, "So much for their best agent though if an infant spectre could put him down," he punched Marcus in the shoulder, "Fucking weird though; I'm pretty sure I heard news about that Arterius fuck murdering the Kryik guy. You know anything about that?"

Of course Marcus remembered, "Yeah, I served alongside Nihlus for a short time two years ago. Funnily enough, he was evaluating me to become a member of the spectres. In the short time I served alongside him, I thought he was a rude, arrogant turian, but on the battlefield...I don't know. Guess I'll never know now. The rumors you heard were true Zaeed; Saren murdered Nihlus in cold blood on Eden Prime. Saw the body myself."

"Fuck," Zaeed shook his head, "This galaxy is just too fucking small."

Both of them fell silent, Marcus' mind trailing back to other...less humorous things. He lowered his head alittle, and at this, Zaeed took notice, voice gravelly.

"I saw what happened to Tali in there Shepard," the man whistled, "She's a tough one, and I'm sure she'll pass through. But seriously; what the fuck happened? What the fuck was she doing, going into combat, topless?"

Marcus shook his head, "She wasn't in combat; we were both in bed, and Peta...he tried to kill me, but ended up stabbing Tali instead. He's being held for trial for now. He's going to be exiled."

"Peta?" Zaeed asked, confused, "Never heard of the fucking name."

"He joined our crew while you were in your coma," the spectre replied, "He's a quarian mechanic with an obsession with Tali. Seems that obsession didn't stop him from trying to kill her."

"Ah, that rings a few bells," Zaeed exhaled, "Would have killed the little cunt myself, but I guess you know your own 'revenge' system better than I do, so I'll leave you to it. Gotta say though; you found yourself a goddam beauty, Shepard. Sexy as fuck, I tell ya."

It was then that Marcus remembered Tali had been naked when they had rushed her to the medical bay. They had covered her face up with a cloth and covered her body with a blanket before leaving, but inside the bay, must have been different. Marcus almost felt himself blush.

"Yeah," he shook, "I have."

"She'll pull through I'm sure. Don't lose her though; she's worth more than any fucking asari, I can tell you that." They both entered another period of awkward silence after that, both of them not making a sound as people began to file into the Mess Hall as their curfew ended. Zaeed gave a final sigh and moved to stand up, gripping the wall to make sure he didn't fall over. When he was finally standing, he turned to Marcus with a nod, "I guess this is goodbye, Shepard."

Marcus frowned and immediately shot to his feet, facing the merc, "What do you mean?"

"I'm leaving Shepard," Zaeed announced, "Got things I need to do. You know, to prepare for the Reapers. You want your goddam army or not?"

Marcus smiled at the mercenary's attitude but quickly lost it upon realization that this was really goodbye, or at least for now, "I just didn't think you'd be leaving so soon..."

Zaeed nodded, "Neither did I, but it seems my brain finally kicked in and told me that I need to get my ass together and get ready to win this damn war. I want to be ready so we can all jump back in and be big, goddam heroes again. It'll be fucking fun. But for now, I've got Blue Suns to rally up and whip into shape. Then I'll try and see what I can do with the Eclipse and Blood Pack; being with you had better earn me some favors."

Marcus held his hand up and Zaeed took it, both of them clasping hard and slapping each other's backs in a brothers-in-arms kind of fashion, "You did good Zaeed; you helped me stop the Collectors, and I don't doubt you'll be able to get the Blue Suns ready to fight the Reapers."

"You're goddam right I will," with that, Zaeed turned to leave, "Well, I'd better get going. I'll head for the nearest colony that isn't Omega and find myself a ride back to Zorya. I've heard the new Blue Suns leader is in power and I want to see if he's worth any salt before I kill him. The Blue Suns are mine now, and noone elses. You'll have your damn army, I just hope you'll be able to lead it."

"Goodbye Zaeed," Marcus farewelled, "We'll meet again, I hope."

"Too goddam soon, I'd reckon," with one final tug of the lips, the mercenary turned and began limping, "Now, I'd better make my goddam escape before Chakwas finds out I'm up and moving. She's a fucking vulture, I'm telling you."

Marcus chuckled as he watched Zaeed's form disappear, moving into the elevator. He sighed and leaned against the wall, just in time too, as the door to the med bay shot open again, Chakwas moving out and cursing as she saw that her patient had escaped, "Bloody ingrate," Chakwas muttered, turning to face Marcus, "Did you see where Zaeed went?"

He shook his head, pretending to look innocent, "Not a clue, doc."

Chakwas rolled her eyes, "Soldiers, never willing to just lay down and  _heal_ ," she shook her head one more time before turning to look at him one more time, the humor gone from his face as he looked at her, obviously desperate for news. She sighed, nodding at him, "You want news, I know. I'll send Mordin out to give the details."

Karin headed back inside and in a second, Mordin came out, omni-tool still active as he faced Marcus, door closing again.

Marcus was up in a heartbeat, "How is she, Mordin?"

The salarian nodded, a smile on his face, "Will recover. Damage not severe. Missed major arteries. Lost alot of blood. Clogged up with medi-gel. Recovery expected to take a day. Currently sleeping. Will inform you if anything else happens. Surgery successful. Ribcage undamaged. Should be fine."

He sighed in relief, leaning against the wall for support, "Thank god..." he nodded, inhaling and exhaling in deep breaths as he patted the salarian professor on the shoulder, "Thank you Mordin...thank you for saving her life."

"Not just me. Chakwas helped as well. As did assistant. Getting better. More training. Almost like me. Skills very salarian," he took a deep breath, still grinning as he finished, "Would be praised in STG. Very capable doctor."

He chuckled, smiling, "Thank you again, Mordin."

"Happy to help Shepard," and with that, the salarian bowed and reentered the med bay, door closing behind him. Marcus sighed in relief again and slid against the wall, falling back on the floor, a contented smile spread across his lips.

She was going to be alright.

And Peta would pay the price for trying to kill her.

**"I could have died..."**

**\- Tali'Shepard pav Rannoch.**

**"The important thing Tali is that you didn't, and you got out fine. Besides, the very next day, we got married."**

**\- Marcus Shepard.**

**"That we did. So what happened next?"**

**\- Tali'Shepard pav Rannoch.**

**"Peta's trial and the death warrant of the Shadow Broker."**

**\- Marcus Shepard.**

_**A/N:** _

_**Holy crap, shit just got real! What did you think of this chapter? Leave your opinion in the review section.** _

_**Yes, things are building up again. Next chapter will be Peta's trial, the aftermath of the Baria Frontiers mission, and the aftermath of the War for Omega (Aria's side of course. Remember, we won't be seeing Omega again until Holocaust).** _

_**And Zaeed has left the crew! But don't worry, he won't be forgotten by the story. He's got Blue Suns to rally up and prepare for the war with the Reapers, and we all know what Zaeed is like. He'll stop at nothing...** _

_**Also, I forgot to mention this previous chapter, but the quarian marriage ceremony system is not my idea. All credit goes to Rockycombo for the idea. If you want to read up on it, I recommend you read In Love and War. Its a fantastic read if you're into lots of fluff and suspense.** _

_**The chapter after the next one will be Tali and Marcus' wedding. Alot of the chapter will be fluff, so be prepared, naturally, so be prepared.** _


	23. Pursuit Narrows

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Liara retrieves her intel, but the team doesn't escape unscatched. Peta accepts his fate. Aria, exiled from Omega by Petrovsky, swears to return.

**REQUIEM**

**CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO:**

**PURSUIT NARROWS**

_November 6, 2185_

_0932 hours._

_Transit Terminal, Dracon Trade Center, Nos Astra, Illium._

_Soldier Urdnot Grunt, First Lieutenant Miranda Lawson, Information Broker Liara T'Soni, Assassin Thane Krios._

He grunted. He tried to move, but there was something keeping him down; something heavy and crushing him. He sniffed, and he smelt smoke; flames and the smell of the dead. Blood. He could hear sirens in the background, people shouting. He could barely remember what happened; only that he had been kicking that salarian's fleshly body, and then a wave of fire had washed over him...only for him to black out.

He grunted again, pushing his back upwards to try and push off the concrete slab that was pinning him to the ground, the thing easily weighing more than five krogan. But he wasn't just any ordinary krogan; he was Urdnot Grunt, a krogan supersoldier and krogan of the old genes, and he would not let this slab weigh him down. With another heave, he grabbed hold of the edges of the slab and shot them upwards, launching the slab off of him and onto the ground beside him, causing a thundering crash that echoed through what was left of the building.

He looked around at his surroundings, trying to find something he could recognize, but came up empty. The whole place was completely torn apart; bits of rubble littered everywhere with flames licking at every corner. The service desk was nonexistent, the elevator doors bent inwards, and the stairwell blocked off by a piece of ceiling.

A long, drawn-out groan was heard and he looked up, seeing that the ceiling looked about to crumble in on itself, the friction causing pressure that facilitated the groaning.  _Heh._ He looked back down, and saw that there was barely a place on the ground that was clean; concrete, dust and flame was located everywhere, along with the bodies of the dead and dying.

He looked over and he noticed the asari guard, the one named Nelyna. Her body was pinned under a larger piece of concrete than his, and both of her arms were twisted, and her head a gash across the face of her tentacles that was as big as his fist, with dried purple blood around it and her brain clearly visible. She wasn't budging, so she had to be dead.

He sniffed and cracked his neck, licking at dried orange blood that had crusted around his upper lip, from a wound long regenerated. He dusted himself off and leaned over to pick up his claymore, which had flames crawling towards it. Once he liberated his favourite weapon, he went about walking amongst the rubble, searching for his battlemaster's soldiers.

_Where are they? They should have freed themselves by them. Pfff...fleshies._

He heard rough coughing from nearby, and as the huge krogan honed in on the sound, he found himself recognizing the sound; the drell. He continued until he found himself near the front entrance, finding the drell in question sitting against a wall, coughing nonstop from a lack of oxygen. He seemed to be choking to death from the amount of coughing he did. From what Grunt could see on him, the only injuries he had was a gash across the side of his face, and a long cut across the front of his leg; from thigh to just above the ankle.

Thane looked at Grunt for a second, but was unable to talk as he continued to cough, and the krogan knew that if he didn't get him clear soon, the drell would die from coughing himself to death.  _The krogan always has to save the day. Heh heh heh._ So he moved over and quickly scooped up the drell, drapping him over his shoulders and jogging towards the entrance.

As he arrived, he saw that the explosions had destroyed the majority of the systems, which meant the door's haptic inteface was offline. So instead, Grunt opened it the old fashioned krogan way; he rammed it.

The door blew outwards, both pieces landing a few meters away as he cleared the building, smoke flooding out of the entrance way like a horde of darkness. Grunt then suddenly stopped and looked around, noticing that there wasn't just NAPD police cruisers landed in the parking lot, but also NAFD firetrucks.

He turned around, and finally noticed the numerous asari, human and turian firefighters, all of them dressed up in red and yellow hazmat suits, with fully sealed helmets. All of them held hoses, and they all looked at the enormous krogan like he was crazy. Ignoring them, he placed Thane down on the ground, and lay him against the stairs, the drell's coughing finally dying down as he desperately sucked in air.

Finally, after a bit, he calmed down, and eyed the krogan, "Grunt, you have...to go back...inside. Liara and...Miranda are still...in there."

Grunt nodded and cracked his knuckles, doing the same with his neck before standing up and rushing back towards the burning building, which was being assaulted by jets of water, firefighters directing their hoses into the building to desperately try and douse the flames. One asari was shouting orders at others, but as soon as he noticed Grunt approaching, he stopped and stood defiantly infront of him.

"You can't go in there!" the turian objected, "Its not safe!"

Grunt growled, and picked the turian up by his collar, hoisting him in the air until he was inches from his face, "Not safe? Do you know who I am? I am Urdnot Grunt, Warrior of Battlemaster Shepard! And I. AM. KROGAN!" With that, he dropped the turian, stepping over him, sprinting into the building with nenewed purpose.

The smoke was almost blinding, and the flames burnt his nostrils, but he ignored them. He moved back inside and retraced his steps, narrowly avoiding a piece of concrete that collapsed from the ceiling and pulverized the body of a dead salarian employee, bits of dust and debris shooting up in clouds.

He looked everywhere, but simply couldn't seem to find the asari or Miranda anywhere. He growled angrily as he searched, stepping ontop of a crested piece of pillar that was still standing, trying to see if he could see them on the elevated ground, but to no avail. Just as he moved to forfeit the rescue effort, he blue light emerge from within the field of debris...

...followed by a biotic explosion as every piece of concrete within five meters of the light blew apart, flying into the air like flares. And from within emerged the battered form of Liara T'Soni, armoured labcoat spotted with dust, grime, and torn in some areas, with the asari's face covered in numerous cuts and scratches, but nothing serious. She cradled her arm, which appeared to be broken, and it was confirmed by her wincing as she lifted it, but upon seeing Grunt, she shouted.

"Grunt!" she shouted over the roaring flames and sirens outside, "Get over here! Miranda needs help!"

Grunt nodded, "ON MY WAY!" he boomed, voice rocking the entire complex as he leapt from his crest, his landing likely heard by all in Nos Astra. Not even hesitation, he immediately thundered over to Liara's position, who was now looking at a certain piece of debris.

And there was Miranda, and she had definitely seen prettier days. Out of the four of them, the ex-Cerberus operative was the worst hit. She was unconscious, which was good, as the fleshy would be in a world of pain if she was awake. Her lower lip had burst open and red blood crusted around it, and one of the teeth at the back of her mouth had fallen out, now finding a home on the floor of the Transit Terminal.

She had broken three fingers and mostly likely crushed the bone in her left wrist, as it was pinned under a second layer of concrete. She had third degree burns to her left arm, as flames had previously licked at it, only for Liara to douse them with her biotics. They couldn't see the rest of her body, especially her legs, but they were likely broken. And to make matters worse for her humility, her suit had split along the back, which meant that one tug would cause the already delicate suit to fall apart and leave the operative likely naked.

Miranda was in a serious condition.

Liara brought up her omni-tool and did a scan of her, "Goddess, she's in a horrible state. One of her kidney is threatening to fail, and some areas are most likely going to hemorrphage. Likely for her she's in a coma; how long it'll last? I can't tell; we need to get her back to the Normandy immediately! Grunt, help me with her!"

Grunt shoved the asari aside, "I can carry her myself; you just worry about the drell, Krios."

Liara looked shocked by the krogan's treatment of her but quickly shook it off when she saw how he so easily picked up the two slabs holding Miranda down and tossed them away, the krogan giving a roar of effort as he did, slapping his hands to together to get rid of the dust as he bent down to pick up Miranda.

"Careful!" Liara pleaded, "Her body is delicate!"

Grunt growled.  _This asari is annoying,_ "I know. Just shut up already and get outside," the krogan nodded to the building, "You're not a krogan, so I'm sure you'll die if this place collapses on you."

Liara pouted for a second before finally nodding, coughing from an inhale of smoke as she spun around and rushed for the entrance once more, Grunt delicately placing Miranda's comatose body on his shoulder before he turned for the entrance and began a light jog towards it, more rubble collapsing around him and the flames getting disturbingly close.

But he made it nonetheless; he rushed through the collapsed door, surprising the firefighters once more as he came out with Miranda on his back, red blood dripping down her back from multiple injuries, skin red and blackened on her left arm from the burns she suffered. He moved down the steps and towards Liara, stopping briefly to get the asari's confirmation.

She nodded to him, helping Thane up and cradling her broken arm at the same point, and they all moved into their skycar. And before Illium police or firefighters could ask any questions, Thane, the only one capable of flying at the moment, gunned the engines and shot forward, flying into Nos Astra's skyline and heading for the area they landed the kodiak.

Setting the vehicle on autopilot, Thane turned to Liara, who sat next to him and exhaled, coughing as he did, "Was the information worth it, Liara T'Soni? Miss Lawson could die in the condition she is in, and we're lucky we had Grunt present to get us out. I could have died from lack of oxygen."

Liara nodded slowly, facing the area up ahead before gulping and nodding again, this time meeting the drell's eyes, "Yes, I believe so. I-"

"This isn't about what you believe, doctor," Thane responded, shaking his head, giving her a scolding gaze, "Was it worth it, or not?"

Liara angrily retorted, "Yes, of course it was! This information can lead us straight to the Shadow Broker! We can end him, free Feron and stop any more pointless deaths! I just need to get this information back to the Normandy for myself, EDI and Legion to crossexamine to see if we can crack the coding. Sekat has heavily encrypted it, but with two AIs helping, we should be able to crack it. We'll see where the Shadow Broker is soon enough."

"If it stops anymore of these pointless deaths, then so be it," the drell replied, "The Shadow Broker has taken enough as it is. It is my duty to put an end to his reign of terror."

"I like the combat," Grunt spoke up, voice carrying through the car, with Miranda's body remaining as silent as ever in her comatose state, "Its fun. Shepard picks good fights; first the Collectors, and now the Shadow Broker. I look forward to meeting these Reapers; the way my Battlemaster speaks of them...they must be the worthiest foe in existence. I shall look forward to doing battle with them, as any krogan should. Heh. Heh. Heh."

"Why does that laugh make me shiver?" Liara commented, eying Thane. The drell shook his head, unsmiling.

"Because it promises death," Thane retorted, this time allowing a small, barely noticable, smile to grace the corner of his lips, "And I believe he was chuckling, not laughing."

The rest of the ride was silent.

The data needed to end a powerful foe.

They just had to hope it reached the Normandy.

**{Loading...}**

_November 6, 2185_

_1217 hours._

_Medical Bay, Normandy-Class Stealth Frigate Normandy SR-2, Docked with the Rayya._

_Commander Marcus Lee Shepard, Medical Chief Karin Chakwas, Professor Mordin Solus, Senior Assistant Lia'Vael nar Ulnay, Chief Engineer Tali'Zorah vas Normandy, Legion._

"Marcus," Chakwas' voice sounded next to him, shaking him from his zone out that he had been experiencing. He shot his looked up at her and immediately stood up. He had been sitting there for quite a long time, ocassionally accepting food from Gardner. Kelly had come down and talked to him, but he felt that she was still shaken too much by the Collector Base to facilitate proper conversation anymore; it seemed more and more that she was suffering severe PTSD.

Chakwas smiled as he stood and looked him in the eyes, "You can see Tali now. She's awake and wanting to talk to you."

Marcus' eyes practically lit up as he moved past Chakwas and into the Med bay, the door sliding shut behind them as they moved inside, Marcus homing in on Tali's bed, which was the second on the left. Zaeed's bed was empty, as the mercenary had left a while ago, the kodiak having dropped him off on Sanctum in the Sigurd's Cradle, and was already heading back to the Normandy.  _Good luck, Zaeed. I know you'll have the Blue Suns, and hopefully the Eclipse and Blood Pack, ready when the Reapers arrive._

Lia was monitoring Tali's heart rate on the left of the bed, while Mordin stood on the right, omni-tool out and scanning Tali's body. Legion stood at the edge of the bed, looking like something of a...guardian?

Tali, upon hearing the door open, twisted her head around to see who was coming and a look of relief appeared on her as she saw a familiar man clad in N7 cap and hoodie approach her, the quarian smiling weakly at him. As he approached, he saw that she was encased in a sterile field, the only thing protecting her from the bacteria of the world outside. He would go and get her suit later, but for now he just wanted to be with her; to see her face.

He pulled a chair over and sat next to her, moving to take her hand, only to have another three-fingered hand, Lia's, slap his hand away, glaring at him, "Don't touch her, Commander. Any bacteria you bring into contact with her will worsen her condition."

Marcus nodded, trying not to pout like a scolded child. Instead, he let his hand drop and was content with just looking at her. She was beautiful as always and, while a bit pale, nothing had really changed. She was wrapped up in a blanket to preserve her dignity, but she had chosen to leave her face exposed; so the only people who got to see it now were Chakwas, Mordin, Lia and Legion.

Chakwas appeared to the side and smiled at the two of them, "As far as I'm concerned Tali, you're cleared to go; just take it easy for a couple of days. You will experience some pain around the stab area for a time, but that's perfectly natural. Just do light work and you should be fine. If you two are talking, I can retrieve your suit for you."

"Thank you doctor," Tali thanked, nodding to the doctor, "I'd appreciate that."

"Please darling, call me Karin," with that, Chakwas nodded and left, a motherly smile still on her features as she left. Marcus didn't even acknowledge her leave though; all he had was eyes for Tali, his gaze filled with relief, anger, grief and irritation. He barely even heard Mordin speak, or his omni-tool turning off.

"Will allow you two privacy. Seems important among your species. Will be in Tech Lab if needed. Examining cross-species reproduction project," that caught his attention, and he looked at Mordin, shaking his head. The salarian's grin dropped and upon seeing the spectre looking at Tali opened his mouth in realization, "Ah, I see. Well, allow you two more time to discuss. Acception or rejection. Come Lia. Much to do. More to consider on project. Maybe consider a hybrid-chemical conversion of dextro-levo chirality into one substance? Hmmm."

Lia nodded and then nodded to both of them in return, "I will be in the Tech Lab as well if you need anything. Just call me if you do, you know, if you  _do_ need help."

"Lia!" Mordin shouted over the sound of the door closing, "Much work to do! Musn't waste time! Shepard and Tali's relationship depends on project!"

Lia nodded again and left, rushing out of the door like a startled rabbit. Marcus and Tali laughed, but quickly turned back to look at each other, Tali raising an eyebrow at him. He frowned at her, "What?"

Tali snorted, "Don't 'what?' me. You know what I'm talking about. What does Mordin mean by 'cross species reproduction project'. And don't tell me its for Garrus and Kasumi, because they aren't even at that stage yet. You haven't been telling me something, have you?"

Marcus gulped and shifted his feet on the ground, "I may have...withheld information from you, but it was never intended. I just never got the time to tell you, that's all."

Tali just raised another eyebrow, "Suuuurreeeee...you're going to tell me right now."

Marcus nodded and opened his mouth to speak, only to remember that Legion was still standing there. With a frown, he turned around and saw that Legion had its pulse rifle on its back, and was looking unfazingly at the door, as if waiting for someone. Clearing his throat, he addressed the geth infiltrator with the same frown, "Just what are you doing, Legion?"

The geth twisted its head to face him, flaps moving up in a frown of its own, "We are protecting Creator Zorah."

His frown stayed in place, "From who?"

"Creator Yala."

Marcus nodded in epiphany, "Peta's imprisoned Legion. He can't harm anyone now. Besides, you really think I'm going to let that sick son of a bitch hurt my fiancee a second time?"

Legion hesitated for a second, before...shaking its head, in a very organic fashion, he might add, "We deem this logic acceptable," it then turned to the bed and bowed; again, a very organic gesture, "Creator Zorah, Shepard-Commander. We will be in the AI Core if further assistance is required."

With that, Legion turned and marched away, moving into the AI Core with barely a sound. A second later, the sound of the door to the AI Core shut, interface turning crimson red as it locked.

Tali laughed halfheartedly, "It nods, makes frowns and then bows...Marcus, I think Legion's broken."

Marcus through in his own chuckle, this one filled with humor, "Its just learning to be more like us, Tali. EDI still struggles to understand humor, remember that?"

As if on cue, EDI's hologram appeared from across the room, but on a seperate pedestal, and she spoke, "Why did the quarian cross the road."

Both of them frowned at each other, and to Marcus' surprise, Tali answered, "I don't know; why did the quarian cross the road?"

"Because she had chicken feet."

Marcus grinned and gave a chuckle, and Tali's frown just deepened, looking at her mate as if trying to understand punchline of the joke. Before either of them could speak further, Joker's came over the comm.

"Wow, EDI. Stealing my jokes now are we? You're just lucky that I have a whole album."

The spectre smirked, "Do you Joker? Willing to share?"

"Sorry, me and my jokes have a nondisclosure agreement," Joker replied, and Marcus was sure he could see the shit-eating grin on his face, even if he couldn't see it literally, "Besides, I can't just let EDI steal all of my jokes. She might make them old, really fast. These ones I'd like to keep; you know, for battle situations. I've got a few on the Reapers too, you know. I've been saving those ones. Might even make extranet memes out of them."

"Logging out, EDI," Was Marcus' only reply, which cut off Joker's reply, along with EDI's hologram, which disappeared along with the pilot's voice. When that was done, the entire bay fell into silence and he twisted in his seat, turning back to face Tali, who was already facing him, arms crossed and eye raised expectantly. He knew he couldn't avoid the topic forever, so he gave a sigh of exasperation, and leaned forward, careful not to touch her or enter the sterile field.

"Its...complicated Tali," Marcus began, "I-"

Before he could continue, the door opened and both of them turned to it with angry and frustrated faces, annoyed at being interrupted. They softened when they saw Chakwas enter and place Tali's suit on her desk before hastily exiting, trying to not interrupt their private conversation longer than necessary. The door closed and then locked, ensuring noone else interrupted. With that done, Marcus turned back to Tali, and began again, the quarian avidly listening.

"I...damn Tali, well...remember how you said you always dreamed of having children?" he asked, "Remember how you said that I should have a woman that can provide me children?"

"Yes..." she trailed off, her voice hinting at the epiphany she had hit.

"Well...when we started approaching Mordin for medication, he started to believe that we were serious about being together. He basically predicted us getting married Tali," he revealed, "So...well, remember when you get shot by the Shadow Broker's men in Eternity back on Illium a month ago?"

She nodded, eager for him to continue. He chuckled at her excitement, and continued, a grin growing on his face, "Yeah, well as soon as you left the med bay and Mordin was alone with me, he revealed his plans to...well, he revealed this project he wanted to work on that would...that would allow you to bear...to bear my child.  _Our_ child."

Her eyes watered, but the smile stayed on her face as he continued, his grin growing with every word, his own eyes brimming with tears of happiness, "Well, the very next time we made love to each other, I took a few samples and gave it to Mordin. And as far as he's concerned, it'll be ready soon, he just needs to finalize it. Tali, do you realize what this means? We can have children together!"

He moved to hug her, as did she, but he immediately retracted, remembering he could not touch her. Her smile lessened slightly, also remembering, which allowed other memories to build up. But she managed to finish the topic on a happy note, "I'm looking forward to it, Marcus. When the Reapers are destroyed and this is all over, we can settle down, as husband and wife, and have a family. We'll...we'll have to find a world, maybe Earth, to live on, of course but-"

He cut her off, shaking his head, "Don't you worry about that, Miss vas Normandy. I'm going to get you back your homeworld, and I'm going to build you a house on it, just like your father promised you. And we're going to have a family in it. All of us, on Rannoch. Don't you worry."

"Yeah..." she sniffled, the happiness in her eyes suddenly melting away as her eyes suddenly found the scar inbetween her breasts. He found where her eyes had deviated too and his smile suddenly dropped as well, some of the old anger he had felt last night and all of today building back up as he remembered just why Tali was in this med bay to begin with.

One of her fingers traced the line of the line of the sealed wound; a scar that would be stuck on her body forever, there to permanently remind her of the life she lead and of the people who wanted her dead. But this man she had considered a friend; a bit of a lunatic when it came to his 'love' for her, but still a friend. But last night, he had tried to murder her fiancee in bed, and then  _stabbed_ her. And the look in his body, the way he moved; it was feral, animalistic, unquarianly. It wasn't the Peta'Yala she remembered.

"Tali, are you okay?" Marcus asked, trying to sound as soothing as possible. But she heard the sorrow in his tone; memories of last night returning to her head, her fiancee holding her body as she slowly slipped out of consciousness and bled out in their home; all because one selfish bosh'tet wanted her to himself.

She so desperately wanted to reach out and touch him; her soft caress always seemed to calm him down, and he had said that she always seemed to bring peace whenever she was with him. She held him together; she stopped the feral beast from Torfan from tearing itself out and lashing out. She was the only thing keeping him together.

"I'll be fine Marcus," she replied, voice soothing and reassuring, "Peta...didn't kill me, as much as he may have tried."

The spectre's face went from concerned to scrunched up in fury all in one moment, "I should have killed that piece of shit."

Tali looked at him with worry, "What did you do to him if you didn't kill him?"

Marcus placed his hands on his knees and shifted in his seat, voice still furious, "I sent him to the quarians on the Rayya; Captain Qet'Danna vas Rayya has taken him under arrest and will hold him until the trial. I, Kal, and the rest of the Normandy crew, as recognized by quarian law, have accused him of treason. EDI even dug up evidence that he was involved with aiding the Shadow Broker and Cerberus attack on the Rayya. We have all the evidence we need to get him exiled from the Migrant Fleet."

Tali shuddered as she remembered her own trial a couple of months ago. She remembered how everyone had been there; Captain Kar'Danna, Veetor and Elan, Kal and Madi, all of the admirals...everyone but her father. That had been the same day that her father had died. That she had lost him; the last of her family. But that would change tomorrow; when herself and Marcus got married. Just the thought gave her nervous shivers. She remembered Qet'Danna's name too, "Qet? You mean Kar'Danna's son?"

Marcus nodded, "Yeah, he took over after he found out about his father's death. When the Admiralty informed him that Peta was involved with his father's death, he said he'd love nothing more than to strangle the quarian, but decided to just attend the trial instead. Everyone's going to be there; all the quarians anyway. Garrus and Kasumi are coming though. Same with Wrex. I'm going as well."

Tali widened her eyes, "You are?"

Marcus, in turn, also widened his own eyes, "Why wouldn't I? We're talking about the man who tried to murder my fiancee, Tali. This is my responsibility, especially since I let said murderer roam my ship while Samara tried to warn me."

"Kal tried to warn me as well," Tali admitted, "I should have listened to him. I was being so stupid."

"We'll make up for it by being there when the hammer comes down," Marcus promised her, "Do you want to come? You don't have to if you don't want to, I'm just suggesting afteral-"

"I'm coming," Tali finalized, unwilling to compromise, an anger of her own entering her voice, "That man tried to murder you, and he infiltrated our home. He claims to love me, and then almost kills me in the process of his attempted murder. I don't know how exactly, but its clear that Peta'Yala died a long time ago; the man he's become is not the one I knew. I will mourn who he was, and despise who he has become. I'll be there. When's the trial due to take place?"

Marcus scratched his head, "Standard military time? 1400 hours."

Tali nodded, "Then I'd better get myself into my suit then. I've got to make sure Gabby and Ken are hard at work before I leave."

Marcus laughed, "Do you ever lay off of them?"

Tali grinned alittle at that, enjoying the insertion of some humor into the predicament, "Never. I'd be a bad chief engineer I did."

"You're a hardass," Marcus replied.

"Another thing I got from you," Tali plauded, smiling back at him smugly. When she saw he had nothing to fight back with, she winked and he just rolled his eyes, laying back in his seat. It was then that his look turned sad, and he eyed Tali with a sense of disappointment and fear. It was not a good feeling for Marcus.

"I'm not someone you want to be, Tali."

**{Loading...}**

_November 6, 2185_

_1349 hours._

_Trading Deck, Liveship Rayya, Migrant Fleet, Enoch System, Rosetta Nebula._

_Gunnery Master Garrus Vakarian, Master Thief Kasumi Goto, Chieftain Urdnot Wrex, Major General Kal'Reegar vas Normandy, First Lieutenant Madi'Soi vas Ceresa, Navigator Veetor'Nara vas Rayya, Medical Chief Elan'Shiya vas Rayya, Captain Qet'Danna vas Rayya._

The trading deck was full of noise; it echoed off the walls, it pinged off the windows, and ringed in all their eardrums. Quarians of all clans, trades and genders came to witness the traitor's trial, and were relishing in it. Garrus overhears some of the conversations himself; some people were curious as to what was going on, while others knew full well, and were crying for the quarian's exile. One quarian, he overheard he was the chief engineer on the Huzzi, even expressed the same belief.

Due to the Arena being unavailable due to the wedding preparations, the quarians had decided to retrofit the trading deck for use as the trial. The Admiral's podium had been shifted inside for the trial, and many storage crates had been moved forward so they could be used as seats or to be laid against. It wasn't the exactly what Tali's trial had looked like, but it was pretty close.

He recognized a few quarians. Just below them was Elan'Shiya, the Rayya's chief medical officer, currently holding hands with her nervous mate, Veetor, who was still trying to overcome his phobia of large crowds, and the angry shouting made by some wasn't helping. Kal and Madi were nearby, just next to him and Kasumi actually, and were also holding hands, conversing angrily about Peta.

As if to remind him of her presence, he felt the thief tap him on the shoulder and he rolled his eyes, turning to face the petite human. She wasn't in her usual cheery mood, having obviously been moved by the events that had followed last night, and she had actually shown some anger. It wasn't anger on the level of the mission in Hock's mansion a couple of months back, but it was still existent.

"These people are really angry," Kasumi pointed out, almost having to yell to be heard over the furious crowd, "You'd think these people were calling for his head."

Garrus nodded, "Wouldn't be surprised! He was responsible for the murder of dozens of civilians, and now, as far as they're concerned, he just tried to murder their greatest heroine! I can't say I blame them! I really want to rip him open with my talons, at the moment!"

Kasumi raised an eyebrow at the overly expressive turian, "Not sure I'm looking for the same thing, but I do want to hurt him!"

Garrus turned to Wrex, who sat on the row just behind and above them, "What about you Wrex? Death or exile?"

The old krogan chuckled, "Exile? I'm a krogan, what do you think? Plus, he just tried to kill my quarian niece! I taught that girl everything she knows, and she showed me some tech in return. Noone hurts my little quarian, I'll tell you that. This 'Peta' is lucky I don't rip his head off with my maw and spit it out."

Garrus widened his eyes at the chieftain, "You'd do that?"

Wrex grinned a crocidilian grin that never ceased to send goosebumps crawling along Garrus' skin, "With alot more gore, assuredly. You don't like me when I'm angry."

"I'm sure that goes for all krogan," Garrus piped up.

"So Wrex, you're like the Hulk!" Kasumi giggled, but only earned herself confused glances from Wrex and Garrus.

"Wow, Kasumi..." Garrus started, flabbergasted, "I knew you were mean spirited, but isn't that alittle too harsh?"

Wrex snorted, glaring at the thief, "I'm not fat," the krogan seemed to check his gullet just to make sure, and shifted in his seat, "Well, maybe alittle; I admit, varren meat's been growing on me ever since I freed myself of those rations on the old Normandy. But I can run just fine."

Garrus smirked as he faced the chieftain, "So sitting on that throne has made you gained weight. Wrex, I'm immensely disappointed."

That earned him a glare of daggers, "Watch where you step turian; I can only be so lenient."

Kasumi giggled under her breath as Garrus seemed to just stare back at the krogan, smirk growing wider, "Oh come now Wrex, I didn't realize it made you so sensitive too. That throne is really bad for you; should give the dietians something to fuss about."

Wrex growled, "I have a shotgun, Garrus. Don't push me."

Garrus guffawed, "It all makes sense now! I knew Tali was a little bit more feisty than she was on the SR-1; she really has taken from you, and Shepard. I mean, have you seen how well she leads a squad?"

"I think we've all grown up a little," Wrex seemed to settle, leaning back with his grin returning, "I mean, look at me. One war on the Normandy, and I've gone from mercenary to Chieftain of one clan, and unifier of hundreds of others. And you...Archangel, right?"

Garrus widened his eyes in shock, "How did you find that out?"

"Seriously?" Wrex guffawed, "Doesn't take a genius to piece it together. Turian who was part of C-Sec gets sick of their policies, leaves, shows up on Omega not long after, starts a team, becomes known as Archangel, and begins destroying the crimeworld on said station. Now, I'll just need to wrack my damn brain to find out how many turians I know that fit that category..."

"Point taken," Garrus looked away, hands clasping behind his back, "Although, Archangel's dead now. Its just good old Garrus now."

Kasumi looked at the turian, a serious expression crossing his face, "Well, maybe he should return just to kill one specific quarian."

Garrus faced Kasumi, a gleam in his eye, "Yes, maybe he should."

After a period of silence between them, Wrex shoved Garrus in the shoulder, focusing his attention on the doorway with a point of an armoured finger, "Look who decided to turn up."

Garrus and Kasumi practically turned in sync, and they saw them. Marcus came through the door first, clad in Terminus Armor, with Tali not far behind, their hands locked. Garrus noticed that Tali didn't look particularly traumatized by the event, and her posture was actually quite rigid and powerful, radiating a sense of strength in it.  _Spirits...she really has changed. We all have. Except Marcus. He's the same._

Garrus waved an arm in the air, beckoning Tali and Marcus to join them. Marcus almost immediately took notice and pointed to Garrus and the group, Tali nodding as they began to move towards them. In a matter of no time, the two of them made it over, Tali seating herself next to Kasumi while Marcus continued over and sat next to Garrus, between him and Kasumi.

The spectre turned towards him, helmet masking his features, along with his deepening his voice, "Glad you came Garrus."

The turian nodded solemnly, "Wouldn't miss it. I want to see this son of a bitch with my own eyes."

Wrex growled behind them, and Marcus focused his attention on the massive soldier, "Don't forget me; if it hadn't been for me, Tali would be dead by now. My training saved her life."

"I'm pretty sure  _I_ was the one who taught her the hand-to-hand defense, Wrex," Marcus quipped back, "You just taught her how to fire a shotgun."

"And how to get down and dirty," Wrex shot back with his trademark, debatable 'sadistic' grin, "I taught her how to think like a krogan. Be rough, strong and never show weakness. She's a fearless woman in combat, she is. Give me some credit."

"Taught her to fight like a krogan?" Garrus retorted, shooting Marcus a smirk, "Remind me to keep some extra masks on standby incase she gets the urge to headbutt somebody."

Marcus chuckled, nodding his head, "I'll put it on my to-do list. And yes Wrex," he turned to face the beast once again, "You get some credit."

"Only the part I deserve," the krogan dipped his head, thanking him.

"Tali going to be okay?" Garrus asked, "Can't have been easy."

Marcus was about to answer, but right on que, they heard Tali sneeze three times, followed by a coughing fit. Kasumi patted her back and just smiled, throwing off Marcus' concerned glances by telling him she was fine. He nodded, turning back to Garrus, Tali looking up and sniffling, voice rugged as she told Kasumi she was fine.

"There's your answer," Marcus told him, shrugging his shoulders, "Its a bad fever; about on the same scale she got when we...did it...for the first time. Chakwas says she'll recover soon, she just needs to keep taking the medication Mordin prescribes her; it attacks the fever and gets rid of it quickly if taken constantly."

Garrus raised an eyebrow suggestively at that, "You two in a hurry for something?"

"We're getting married tomorrow Garrus," Marcus explained, "Would suck if we couldn't finish the day off with a  _bang_  now, could we?" He smiled at his own pun, but apparently Garrus wasn't all that impressed.

"And so starts the 'we'll bang okay?' memes," Garrus sighed, "Spirits save the extranet."

"It wasn't that bad," Marcus tried to get in, but Garrus wasn't having it.

"Are you sure you didn't say that to Sovereign?" the turian asked, "It does explain why his shields dropped; probably fainted from how bad it was. And Harbinger! Spirits, its all coming together! He must have had the Collectors kill you so he didn't have to be subject to that pun too."

Marcus laughed, holding up his hands in a 'I surrender' manner, "I confess; I'm a convicted pun-cular manslaughterist."

Garrus didn't even grin, "Oh, that's even worse."

"Hey, I get paid to kill things, not to make jokes," Marcus said seriously, but with a bit of humor in his tone.

"They didn't pay you to dance either, did they?"

Marcus groaned, "Noone will let me to see the light of day on that one, will they?"

Wrex answered that noone, "Never. I've seen pups fresh out of the womb dance better than that."

Marcus seemed to shrink and both of them just laughed at the commander's expense. Their mirth was doused when the doors opened once more however, and the Admiralty Board strolled in. The room went silent in an instant, all angry shouting, and shouting of any kind, immediately becoming absent. Shala'Raan headed the group, followed by Han'Gerrel, Zaal'Koris and Daro'Xen, the last looking very dejected and annoyed.

Everyone watched them with interest, following their every step. Gone was the smirks on Garrus, Marcus and Wrex's faces, now replaced by straight lips and frownless expressions. He imagined the same went for Veetor, Elan, Kal, Madi, Tali and Kasumi as well. They were all completely silent, not making a sound. They watched as Qet'Danna vas Rayya greeted the Admirals with a Captain's blessing, and then turned to his seat, the quarian looking just as dejected as Xen, although likely for much different reasons.

Unlike last time however, Gerrel took the position on the upper podium, as it was reserved for the Chief of the Admiralty and Gerrel, as Regent of the Board, took his place on it, Shala having taken it in Rael's absence during Tali's trial. Shala now took Gerrel's place from last time, with Koris and Xen in the same places as said trial.

Everyone sat there and waited; waited as the commander of the Rayya's marine detail was beckoned forward by Admiral Gerrel. Waited as the soldier was ordered to bring Peta forward.

All waited. All were silent.

Peta's time had come.

**{Loading...}**

_November 6, 2185_

_1357 hours._

_Trading Deck, Liveship Rayya, Migrant Fleet, Enoch System, Rosetta Nebula._

_Mechanic Peta'Yala vas Normandy._

The storage crate was small; compact. There was little room to move around, and it was covered in a veil of total darkness. The floor was hard and uncomfortable, and only his nocturnal quarian vision allowed him to see anything. But he didn't care how uncomfortable it was, or how dark it was, or how little room there was. He just sat there, dejected, arms wrapped around his legs and bringing them to hug his chest in a fetal position.

Peta deserved nothing but death; a slow one at that.

He had almost killed the woman he loved.

Tears dried around his cheeks, and all he could think of was what was to come. He didn't know if he could bear it; all those accusing looks, all those shouts of distaste, and the looks of the man he tried to murder...he would have to take it all. Submit to them all. He was on trial for treason, and he knew that the evidence was absolute, and that meant...

Exile. He would never see the Migrant Fleet again; for the rest of his life.

He choked out a sob in the darkness, shifting his body. He'd lose everything that he treasured; not that he had much to begin with. All he had was the fleet, the feeling of belonging to a people and the promise that he would be with the love of his life one day.

He would lose the fleet.

He would no longer belong to a people.

And the love of his life would forever despise him. She would spit at the very thought of his name.

He sobbed again.

This storage crate was his prison; the place where he would wait for his inevitable doom. His only light in the darkness was the omni-cuffs that encased his wrists, and that glow was dim, as intended by his guards. He could hear them outside; their voices muffled, speaking in hushed tones. But he heard their topic; him. They were talking in angry and enraged tones. They wanted him exiled. Everybody he knew wanted him exiled. It was the fate he was doomed to suffer, for the evidence against him was too great.

And Peta already saw first hand how great a speaker Shepard was.

It had all seemed so simple. Go in, slit Shepard's throat, get out, get the girl. It would be bittersweet, and he'd be a murderer, but he would have gotten her. But then he had kissed her. She had said Shepard's name. And he had lost it.

_I should never have kissed her...oh Tali, I never meant to...Keelah, I never meant to..._

Death was a much kinder fate...

...one he did not deserve.

In the end, Peta's body just didn't know whether it should cry or just thrash about in defeat, and anger. But he knew in the end what was done was done; he had wronged the people he cared about, and he must be punished. And that punishment was to be cast out, forgotten about, and have his name stricken from every record of every ship he had served on.

Peta gulped.

Peta'Tasi vas Nedas. That would be his name as an exile.

Tasi meant 'no one.' Nedas meant 'no where.' He would be Peta Noone, of Nowhere. An exile. An empty husk. A shell floating through space. A nobody. Noone would care, noone would notice, noone would remember. They would only remember the deeds he committed; and how atrocious they were.

He heard a shuffling up above and heard voices; the room had gone silent, Peta noticed, and he knew it was time. He would have to face his people and tell them that he had murdered his own fleet brothers and sisters for the love of one woman; that he had stabbed one of their heroines in the name of love. The same love that drove him to almost kill her.

Peta chuckled cruelly. The only thing he remembered from that night was the smell of her blood.

How ironic.

Light. It spilled into the crate he was huddled in as one marine removed the lid off and tossed it away. The marine, a female, barked at him to stand up, vindicator battle rifle at the ready if he tried anything. But Peta wouldn't try anything; he had nowhere to hide, and no reason to try and escape. He would be a man and face what he had sowed.

He got to his feet as quickly as he could, trying not to fall over in the cramped space. Even standing up, only his head poked out, showing just how tall the crate was. The female marine commander beckoned two other marines to help Peta out, and they did, ableit roughly. Once out, they practically let him drop on the floor, and he did, pitifully, rolling up like a pathetic man trying to shield himself from a gangbash.

Peta'Yala-No, Peta'Tasi, get up, and act like a man. Face what you sowed.

He got up, slowly, and stood to his feet, holding his arms infront of him, the cuffs resticting his movement. The female placed a hand on his right shoulder and grasped it tightly, vindicator in her other hand as she pushed him forward, three other marines behind her, all wielding shotguns and SMGs of some description. He saw one of them holding a Mattock; most likely commandeered weapons from the Montgomery.

He moved through the door and out onto the trading deck, Peta desperately wanting to look at the ground as the marine lead him forward and towards the Admiral's podium and to where the quarian would speak his fellow kin for the last time. He wondered if they would even give him a shuttle to leave on; or just flush him out the airlock.  _More likely to do the latter than waste resources on a murderer...a traitor..._

But he fought against his wishes and stood up, proud and tall, only looking up and meeting pair of eyes for pair of eyes as he was guided towards the podium. If he was going down, he would go down with pride.

_Listen to yourself; in your moment of exile, the day you lose everything, due to the night you tried to kill the one you love the most, and you think about pride? You lost your pride when you sank that blade into her chest..._

But he ignored those thoughts in his mind, only looking forward. No point in moping now...

He looked around the room subtlely, trying desperately to recognize everyone in the room. He saw the Rayya's medical chief, and that twitchy mate of hers...Veetor, was it? They stood on the level he was on, just looking at him, their faces hidden behind masks, but knowing them, Elan would be looking at him with disdain and Veetor with blatant disinterest; the quarian always more worried with his personal humility then anything else.

On the same side, on his left, and a few levels above, stood Kal and his mate, Madi'Soi vas Ceresa. Madi held hands with him, and looked down at him unblinkingly and Kal just fixed him with what Peta knew was a glare. He remembered the marine back in school, and the first meeting he had with him after that was after Tali's trial and after that? Well, he didn't remember much of that meeting, because it involved a rifle butt to his head, to which they had to get Peta a new mask. He sneezed, as if his body suddenly remembered he had a fever, followed by a croaky cough, in which his escort had to wait for him to finish before continuing to push him along, as if escorting him to his execution.

The krogan, Wrex, was the next person he noticed, fixing him with a hardened glare and bared teeth; Peta would be lying if he said he wasn't afraid of him. And below the krogan was the turian, Garrus, along with the little thief, Kasumi. And sitting inbetween them both was Marcus Shepard, the man who was supposed to be dead, but now wasn't due to Peta's incompetence.  _The Shadow Broker will probably hunt me down for my failure and kill me...so be it...least I deserve anyway..._

They all glared at him equally; their eyes making them look like they wanted nothing more than to lash out at him like vipers and rip his throat out. The very thought caused him to throw his look away, where it unwillingly landed on...on...on...

His eyes widened and fresh tears brimmed in his eyes upon laying his eyes on  _her._ He hadn't expected her to recover yet, but there she was on; in all her glory. Tali'Zorah vas Normandy sat on the right of Kasumi, fixing him with the same accusatory glare that everybody else was. If only she knew... _It wasn't meant to be you...I was supposed to kill Shepard, and you got in the way...I'm so sorry..._

Her glare remained unchanged, and he realized his words went unmouthed. He dragged his pleading gaze away from her, moving to face the podium that he was literally one meter away from, the guard pulling him to a complete stop. A tear fell down his cheek, unseen and uncared about. He could weep as loudly as the ancestors screamed for salvation on Rannoch three hundred years ago, and still nobody would wave a finger.  _I am noone. Crew of Nowhere. I am nothing._

Peta brought his look up, sniffling while sneezing twice again, watching the gazes of Han'Gerrel, Zaal'Koris, Daro'Xen and Shala'Raan brought down upon him, as if ready to pass judgment at that very moment. As if willing to cast him out as soon as he spoke. He waited patiently before Han'Gerrel placed his hands behind his back and clasped them, his high and gruff voice sounding through the room.

"This conclave is brought to order," he boomed through the room, his commanding voice just showing how much experience he had in his years in the military, all eyes brought to him, "Blessed are the ancestors who kept us alive, sustained us, and enabled us to reach this season. Keelah Se'lai."

The entire room replied, and Peta found himself replying as well, as was a habit built into every quarian; even the marines behind him said it. When the room was settled down, Han'Gerrel was suddenly glared at him, and Peta felt like melting away. But he kept his gaze true and steady, not willing to break down.  _Be strong. Execute your last moments as a quarian as best you can._

Gerrel's voice echoed through the trading deck once more, hangar door behind him slammed shut and blocking the mirage of space behind him, "The accused, Peta'Yala vas Normandy, has come to defend himself against this charge of treason. The Captain of the Normandy, Marcus'Shepard vas Normandy, has recused himself from defending the defendant, due to his minor involvement in the charges. Will someone step forward to speak for Peta'Yala before these proceedings continue?"

The room was deathly silent. Noone raised their hand, noone spoke; a testament to the love felt for Peta'Yala, the man already convicted and guilty.  _No love felt for me...and not surprising...I deserve everything I get...but Tali...oh keelah, Tali..._ And now he remembered something else about her, as if his mind was mocking him; the taste of her lips on his.

He had seen her face; he had been blessed with that much.

All eyes fell Gerrel once more as he spoke, still facing Peta, "Peta'Yala, you stand accused of treason against the fleet. You are accused of disabling the Rayya's defenses and communications while secretly colloborating with members of Cerberus and the Shadow Broker's forces. With your help, they were able to board this ship and gun down dozens of innocent men, women and even a couple of children; you hid when all this occured. You are also accused of attempting to murder your own captain, and for stabbing his mate, Tali'Zorah vas Normandy, in their cabin on their ship. What say you?"

Peta gulped, feeling all eyes land on him. He could feel Gerrel and Raan's glares, Koris' raised eyebrow and Daro's disinterested look. He felt Kal, Madi, Marcus, Kasumi, Garrus, Wrex, Tali and everyone else glaring at him all at once, as if attempting to kill him through mere glaring; but what would they be killing? A man without a soul? A monster? Peta'Yala was already dead! He already confirmed that...

_You plead not guilty..._

_No I don't. I'm a murderer and a traitor, no point in denying it. They'd just waste more time bringing in evidence to prove I'm lying. I have an obligation to tell the truth, and I will. I will not waste anymore time lying; its time to tell the truth for once, and that's what I'm going to do. I will redeem myself, if only slightly._

_What, to reassure yourself that your morally just?_

_No, just to give myself some closure and end this torture quickly._

Gerrel's voice broke him from his thoughts, "Peta'Yala, I ask again, what say you?"

Peta replied without hesitation this time, coughing before he spoke, "Guilty. I plead guilty."

There was a few gasps from the crowd, and he could tell from Raan's shift in position that she was surprised. Noone expected him to admit to his crimes; knowing Peta, they thought he'd lie his way out, but he hadn't. He had given them the truth, and it almost sounded too good to acknowledge. Han'Gerrel, recovering from his shock, spoke once more.

"You admit to these crimes?" Gerrel asked.

Peta nodded, his voice shaking, "I...I do. I am a criminal, and I'm not going to deny that. I have murdered good people through my actions, and almost murdered another good person in their own bed, on their own ship; in their home, after they let me aboard. I am guilty, and accept full responsibility for my actions. My obsession got many killed."

Raan spoke, "And what is this 'obsession,' you speak of?"

Peta turned to face her, knowing she already knew what obsession she was speaking of, but was asking for the sake of the confused crowd. And he answered without fail, voice shaking almost to the point of breaking, "I had a obsession with Tali'Zorah vas Normandy; I loved her with a passion and tried everything in my power to obtain her. I...this resulted in my standing here."

He sighed and looked back to Gerrel, seeing that the man looked very tired of this and simply decided to cast final judgment, "It would seem that there will be no need to bring forward any evidence, as you've clearly just admitted to being guilty. Let's finish this."

Peta gave a weak nod, looked down and closed his eyes as Gerrel said the words.  _This is it. The end. I will never see the Flotilla again. Everything I've ever known, and I'll never see a piece of it again. I've lost any chance to be with Tali, the love of my life and the only girl I could possibly want to be; not only that, but she hates me. This truly is what my life is like; a frail, pathetic excuse of a thing. And I continue to live while many people, murdered by Cerberus and Shadow Broker alike, lie dead. I am a monster._

_I am noone. Crew of Nowhere. I am nothing._

Gerrel's words cut deep as he spoke, drilling his gaze into Peta's head, "Admirals, are we prepared to render judgment?"

He felt nod. He heard their omni-tools activate on their arms as they began to type in and send their judgment; to condemn him forever to the stars and to never see his home for eternity.

A few seconds passed before Gerrel looked up from his omni-tool, once more boring his eyes into the back of Peta's skull, "The vote is unanimous," a painful silence, one that would be forever marked in Peta's memory for as long as he lived, "Peta'Yala, you are hereby found guilty of all charges, and therefore found guilty for committing treason against the Flotilla. You have exactly six hours to leave-"

Gerrel's words were nothing to him; he just didn't care anymore. It had been done, and he just wanted to leave. He looked up at Gerrel and cut him off, "I have nothing on the Flotilla except for Tali and myself; one despises me and does not want me, the other is noone. Crew of Nowhere. He is nothing."

Gerrel seemed annoyed at being interrupted at first, but Koris cut off any angry retort he planned on giving as he, hands behind his back, spoke, "There is a shuttle waiting for you in Docking Cradle 05. It has been prepped for your departure; go safely, Peta'Yala vas Normandy. Keelah Se'lai."

"More like burn in hell," Gerrel mumbled under his breath, and Koris shot him a hateful glare, but Peta didn't care; he didn't want any friends, only to be gone from this place so he could forget it quicker. Already he felt himself slipping away, as if his carelessness was taking over his senses. He turned around, the female quarian removing his omni-cuffs and deactivating them, placing them in a suit pocket. She then began to direct him towards the Docking Cradle 05, the crowd in the area dispersing.

It was over. He had been exiled, and now all he had to do was leave.

They should have just executed him.

He looked one more time at Tali, who was already looking at him, shaking her head. Just as he met her gaze, she tore her eyes away leaning into Marcus, for protection, as if to spite the quarian. But he was beyond caring now; he hoped Tali lived a happy life in Shepard's arms, for she deserved it. A happy life. And Peta would suffer for his crimes.

Peta sighed.

It was better this way.

**{Loading...}**

_November 6, 2185_

_1342 hours._

_Reception Area, Spaceport, Vulpes, Sanctum._

_Mercenary Leader Aria T'Loak, Lieutenant Bray, Admiral Jarral, Chief Technician Ahz, Mercenary Sata T'Loak._

"This one asks that you give the proper credentials."

 _Oh, I am going to rip this bitch apart if she doesn't shut her fucking cunt of a mouth._ Aria was already pissed off over losing Omega; she didn't need this receptionist adding to it. She braced against the desk, growling at the hanar standing before her. Bray stood on her left, arms crossed and scowling at the same receptionist, while Jarral and Ahz animatedly talked, the rest of her men from Omega standing behind them. Sata stood on Aria's right, angrily crossing her arms and scowling at a wall behind the former ruler.

Sata was alot like her mother in attitude, but little else; Nyreen had definitely rubbed off on her. She was prone to anger like her mother, and didn't shit from anybody, but her father's moral compass was there. She yelled at her mother everytime she hurt an innocent, and was definitely more distant since Nyreen corrupted her with her...paragade logic.

Sata wore basic clothes, with a black jacket and jeans. Unlike Aria, she didn't have any facial tattooes, but she did have a omni-tattoo on her belly that Aria had gotten her for her 15th birthday. She was just as tall as Aria; and not all that old in asari terms. The miracles of asari aging.

But right now, she just wanted to rip the tentacles off of this fucking hanar, " _This_ one asks if you'll please get the fuck out of my way and let me and my men leave. I've had enough trouble, I'm not about to have you adding to it."

The hanar didn't seem perturbed; yet again, it had no facial features as it was just a floating, sapient/sentient jellyfish. Its body glowed as it spoke, "This one pleasantly asks if you would refrain from insulting its language. This one does not like insults and is kindly asking to see credentials. This one will call security if necessary."

Aria just manically as she pulsed with biotics, "Just fucking try it!"

Sata had finally had enough, "Mother, enough!"

Aria turned to her with an angry look, biotics not lifting.  _How dare she...!_ But before she could finish those thoughts, Sata shoved her aside and turned to face the hanar, sparing her mother only a second-long admonishing look. She opened her own omni-tool, showing it to the hanar.

"Here you go sir," Sata showed the hanar, "My credentials."

The hanar pulsed with vibrant glow, "This one humbly thanks you for your compromise. This one accepts your ID and will allow you to pass through now, Aria T'Loak."

Aria glared at her daughter as she smiled at the hanar, closing her omni-tool and beckoning everyone to move through. The spaceport of Vulpes City was closed off to the outside due to Sanctum's hostile temperatures, and only observation windows allowed them to look outside to see the hostile environment that occupied the planet; cold winds and hot winds brewing together to cause an almost non-stop sea of tornados, none of which effected the city due to its kinetic barriers.

That little bitch had used  _her_ name to get through security. That little bitch had pretended to be  _her_.

That little bitch was her daughter.

Aria knew she should be proud of her for using that excellent espionage tactics, but Aria could only feel searing hatred at the very thought of someone else posing as her, but she brushed it off, not wanting to start a fight over something so trivial.

"This one wishes you a nice day," the hanar stated as Aria was going past.

She suddenly whorled on it, wreathed in biotic power, making the hanar hover back, "Don't talk to me, jellyfish, or I'll open you from gut to head!"

The hanar went silent after that, simply watching the asari as she turned around and left. The biotics wrapping her body slowly died out, but the same anger was still in her eyes; remnants of her loss on Omega.

It was still a fresh wound; it was hard to believe she had lost the station only a day ago; it felt like centuries. Her life had been for that station, and now it was under Cerberus control, its residents oppressed by Cerberus, and a Cerberus fleet now defended it. She could only think and dread of the things Petrovsky was doing to her station, to her Afterlife...he still hadn't found her bunker, which would be a bonus for when she came back to reclaim the station, but that was but a small reprieve.

And during the entire War for Omega, Derius and the Talons hadn't lifted a damn finger, and Nyreen hadn't even come to her assistance. It had gotten to the point where Aria thought the Talons were wiped out when she wasn't looking, and Nyreen was dead; but she knew them, and knew deep down that wasn't the case.  _Where were you when I needed, Nyreen? Hiding? Playing hide and seek with Cerberus? You treacherous bitch._

Her lack of involvement probably had to do with her moral compass. Kandros and those damn morals of hers; they would get her killed someday.

Had Nyreen even been on Omega at the time of its fall?

Or was she helping Petrovsky kick her out? They did share the same ideals of protecting the innocent...

She snarled at those thoughts, which garnered the attention of her men; an attention she quickly didn't want. She pushed herself through them, moving to the front of them. Seeing that they weren't following, she came to a sudden halt and turned around, face scrunched in a scowl.

"Well, are we fucking going or what?"

Ahz spoke up, "Where can we go? Omega has fallen. You're no longer the Ruler of the Terminus Systems."

It was true, as much as Aria despised it. She was just another mercenary now; Omega had been the defacto capital of the Terminus Systems, and now Cerberus controlled it. She had been kicked off her throne and left to rot. She had no seat of power and her forces, her 'bully' squad, was now half of their original strength. It would take months to reform her fleet and troops, and what then? What would she do? Wander aimlessly across the stars like the quarians? Fuck that!

"Oh, but I am Ahz!" Aria growled back in defiance, "I don't need Omega to rule. But I will take it back, all the same."

Everyone just looked at her skeptically, not quite believing. It was Jarral who spoke up though.

"What do we do?" Jarral asked, shrugging her shoulders, "I have no fleet! You have no soldiers! Cerberus kicked our asses on Omega; and by the time we return, they'll be too heavily entrenched to be push out! What can we possibly do to retake Omega from them now?"

Aria raised her arms in the air, defiant as ever as Sata came to the front, her own arms crossed, "They may have the station, but they do not have Omega! Omega is  _us._ WE make Omega what it is! I will scour across the Terminus Systems, the Attican Traverse and Citadel space, and I will build the biggest criminal army this galaxy has ever scene! It will rival the assault force of Elysium in sheer size!"

Sata scoffed, "Ten thousand troops? Where in goddess' name do you hope to rally such a force? And you can forget about the Blue Suns, Eclipse or Blood Pack rallying to your side. And the Hegemony will take alot of convincing. And you really think the Council will just let you wander through Citadel space?"

Aria grinned, "I may be...on good terms with Councilor Tevos. Besides, from what Shepard tells me, the Council will have more to worry about soon than some criminals gathering in their space; you've all heard of the Reapers. You know they're coming, and Shepard will come to me looking for an army. Oh, he will get it. But only after he has spearheaded by retake of Omega."

Bray scoffed, "What so great about Shepard?"

Sata snorted, drawing a glare from the batarian, "You really as fucked in the head as they say, Bray," she shook her head, and looked back at Aria, "Shepard is not likely to work with the likes of you, mother. The man views himself as a patron saint, and we all know they don't work with blasphemers."

Aria grinned cruelly at her, "Oh yes, but Shepard is also a pragmatist. He knows he'll need the biggest fucking army this galaxy has ever seen to stop the Reapers, and he needs us as part of that force. And the only way he gets us is if he helps us retake Omega. He will join us."

"Still don't see what's so great about him," Bray scratched his head, shaking his head as his arms remained crossed.

"He's a god on the battlefield," Sata stated plainly facing him, "Good enough for you?"

"Noone's that good," Bray snorted.

Aria glared at the batarian, "Shepard is. He fought armies of geth, krogan, defeated Saren Arterius, and from what I heard, personally traversed the Omega 4 Relay and into the Galactic Core, sent the Collectors straight to hell, and returned to tell the tale; right now, he's at war with the Shadow Broker, and the king of information hasn't killed him yet, he never will. He will destroy Cerberus; be sure of that."

Bray rolled his eyes, still not quite believing, and Aria didn't feel inclined to try and convince him; he would follow her orders, like it or not. She turned to the rest of the group, "So who's with me?"

"I'm your daughter," Sata deadpanned, walking over to join Aria, "I have little choice in this matter."

Bray shrugged and moved to join her, "I ain't exactly going anywhere, anytime soon."

Jarral sighed, following the batarian, "Why the hell not; at least I'll get to lead a fleet again."

Ahz nodded, hurriedly joining her, "At least this will allow me to stretch my tech skills."

Steadily, everyone else rallied to her. Aria was about to call out for them to follow her, but was interrupted by a loud, slow clapping from behind her, and she turned to the source of the sound, finding a familiar, grizzled and old, armoured form standing in the doorway leading into the market area. With a half smile, the man, who now looked like shit, stepped into the light, or rather, limped.

"Great fucking speech Aria," the man complimented sarcastically, "Brought a goddam tear to my eye."

Aria just smiled, "Zaeed Massani, a pleasant surprise. I didn't think Shepard was here."  _I'll be able to speak with him..._

"He's not," Zaeed deadpanned, "I left his crew after getting shot to hell by some Shadow Broker cunts. Now I'm going to fetch some Blue Suns for him...well, not some, rather the whole goddam organization. Going to catch a flight to Zorya and see who this cunt, Darner Vosque, is. Shepard needs an army, and I'm going to give the whole fucking lot to him, if I can get the Eclipse and Blood Pack on my side."

_...and maybe not._

"Blue Suns I can see you doing. You're a...charismatic, individual," Aria smiled, but it wasn't warm or cordial, "Eclipse and Blood Pack however, seem like a much bigger fucker to catch."

Zaeed just chuckled, "Couldn't have said it better myself, sweet cheeks. Goddam assholes are going to be hard to budge, but I figure a few bits of torture and the removal of a few limbs will loosen 'em up just fuckin fine."

"Will you join us?" Bray asked.

Zaeed glared at the batarian, "You fucking deaf, blink? I'm catching a flight to Zorya to rally some of my blue colored friends, and I'm not talking about asari. I'm not here to fight some personal war for you. Never liked Omega anyway; seemed like the place you'd go to for a toilet break before leaving again. Don't see your obsession with it, you crazy bitch."

Aria just laughed, "Call it my...hobby."

"You need a better one," Zaeed snorted, turning to limb past them to the waiting area, "Now if you don't mind, I've got to get flying. Blue Suns won't hire themselves, so I've got to give them some motivation. I think I'll castrate Vosque and see how cooperative he is."

"Until next time we meet, Massani," Aria spat.

"That time will be too goddam soon," Zaeed reciprocated.

They watched Zaeed limp away until he was out of sight, before Aria then turned around and lead them away. She had her own flight to catch; but it wouldn't a casual one. No, she was on a mission. A mission to unite the galaxy's criminals on one mission.

The reclamation of Omega.

It would rival the force on Elysium. No, scratch that,  _dwarf_ it.

It would be glorious. And she looked forward to seeing all forty thousand Cerberus soldiers burn.

That time would come all too quickly.

**"Now that I look back, I forgave Peta for what he did. I...pitied him."**

**\- Tali'Shepard pav Rannoch.**

**"I still dislike him for what he did, but for what its worth...I forgave him too. But he did deserve that exile."**

**\- Marcus Shepard.**

**"And...he wasn't there when we got...married."**

**\- Tali'Shepard pav Rannoch.**

**"Yes. That...that was possibly the happiest day of my life. Not even the honeymoon afterwards could compare to it."**

**\- Marcus Shepard.**

_**A/N:** _

_**Fair warning: If you do not like fluff chapters, be prepared to skip the next one, as the next one will be purely Tali/Shep wedding, with fluff afterwards (Best Man toast, followed by conversations between random characters and of course, the spectacle will be Tali and Shepard).** _

_**Chapter after that will be Tali and Shepard's honeymoon, and a large amount of that will be fluff as well, but not as fluffy as you'd think...** _


	24. Union of One

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The crew attend Shepard and Tali's wedding on the Rayya.

**REQUIEM**

**CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE:**

**UNION OF ONE**

_November 7, 2185_

_0823 hours._

_Captain's Quarters, Normandy-Class Stealth Frigate Normandy SR-2, Docked with the Rayya._

_Commander Marcus Lee Shepard._

He looked in the mirror of his bathroom a second time, quietly sighing to himself as he let his eyes scan his appearence. It was the same suit Kasumi had gotten him for the heist in Hock's mansion, and he had dubbed it his 'suit for special occassions.' The suit had a black base, with a white collar twisting around to form around his neck; but it didn't choke. The wrists of the suit were milky white as well and the right part folded over the left where a row of four buttons awaited him, but they were now all buttoned up.

Today the same suit would serve as his wedding suit.

He took a deep breath, suddenly incredibly nervous. Today he got married to the woman he loved. The woman that had been with him since the beginning, and believed in him when others had abandoned him. To the woman whose face he had seen and smiled upon, who he cherished. Who cares if she was quarian? Racial boundaries be damned.

It was happening on the Rayya; the Normandy was basically a ghost ship at the moment. Everyone had boarded the Rayya, which, just for the event, had allowed them to come onboard without suits, and the contamination would be limited to the Arena only, which they could decontaminate later. Every single crew member; average and teammate, had come to attend the event. And to his immense relief, even Jack had decided to come.

He was disappointed that Thane, Grunt, Liara and Miranda couldn't come, as they were still out recovering the information from Sekat and wouldn't come back until tomorrow, but at least the majority was coming. Even non crew members would be attending, like the entire Admiralty Board save Xen, and his mother and Anderson, who had yet to arrive.

Both he and Tali had suffered a rude awakening this morning when Shala had demanded to see Tali. Since then, he hadn't heard from the quarian or seen her. He tried to send her a message, but Shala had replied saying, 'Following human tradition. You won't see her until the wedding. See you later.'

So instead of the usual morning ritual of cuddling, making out, sex or simply talking before going to work, Marcus had immediately had a shower, cleared all his action reports and started getting ready for the wedding. He had showered, combed his hair and shaved; only alittle disappointed and melancholic to see the beard he had worked on for so long be shaved away, but he knew it was totally worth it.

He had brushed his teeth, cleaned his breath with listerine and now he was finishing getting dressed. To think that they were waiting for him to arrive to begin the ceremony sent shivers up his spine; everyone, waiting for  _him_. It shook him to the core, but it was a good feeling; a pleasant feeling.

Shala had explained the workings of the quarian ceremony to him, which meant he knew about the formation of entry; the most influential and guiding leads the way, close friend or brother/sister at your side, most supportive at the back. Marcus had known instantly who he wanted in those position; so as it was, Anderson was leading the way, Garrus was at his side, and Joker was at the back. The pilot had been more than surprised at the honor, but had taken it humbly, saying it was a privledge to be involved, and definitely not sarcastically.

Now they most likely waited for him down below in the CIC; and after some urging, Marcus had forced Garrus out of his armor and into a suit, to the turian's reluctance. It just wouldn't do to have them wearing combat armor in the middle of such an important ceremony such as this. People might think they were preparing for the Reapers land suddenly and out of nowhere.

With a sigh, he flattened out his suit and inhaled and exhaled, trying to steady his breath. He had never been so nervous before; not at his N7 graduation, not at his spectre commendation, and not at the awards ceremony after saving the Citadel from Sovereign, Saren and the geth heretics. He hadn't been nervous then, but he was nervous now.

This was the biggest moment in his life; he didn't want to screw it up. Is that what he was worried about?

_You looked a Human-Reaper in the eyes and destroyed it. You literally looked into two demonic pits of hell and spat at it. A wedding should be nothing to you. You looked Saren Arterius in the eyes when he was converted into a super husk, and you defeated it anyway with unshakable conviction. Once again, that was nothing to you. You. Can. Do. This._

He was about to push himself up into a straightened posture but before he could, he heard a knock on the door to his cabin. With a final heave of breath, he straightened his position, smoothed out his hair and left the cubicle, door sliding shut behind him as he spoke, "Enter."

The door slid open, and an alliance captain stepped inside, a large smile on her face. She was old, but still pretty, and she wore the cap of a naval officer on her head, but quickly removed it when she saw her son. She wore a casual dress instead of the usual alliance navy blue uniform; a red dress that accentuated her curves but showed only a modest amount of cleavage. Her smile brightened upon seeing him.

He smiled back, "Mum, glad to see you could make it."

"Of course I did Mark!" Hannah exclaimed, opening her arms in a 'hug me' manner, "I wouldn't miss my own son's wedding. My son has finally found a girl and is marrying her; I don't think I'd ever miss that. Neither would your father."

He accepted her gesture and wrapped his arms around her, and she did the same. They hugged tightly before Hannah pulled away, landing a kiss on each of his cheeks before she pulled away, "I'm so proud of you son. I never thought this day would come; not with you being in the military. But it has...oh yes it has..."

"Tali means alot to me," Marcus explained, "I want to do this. She wants to do this. We both do."

Hannah chuckled, "Of course you do; but to be honest, you two were practically married anyway. This just makes it official," she then bit her lower lip, giving a devillish grin, "And at least you're not marrying an asari pornstar..."

Marcus widened his eyes at her in horror and took a step back from her like she had just turned into a Reaper husk, "Mum..."

She waved her hands dismissively, laughing again, "Don't take it to heart son; we all have that phase. I remember, when I was your age, I had an unhealthy relationship with this jock at school; this was long before we even knew about aliens, mind you. I remember when-"

"And that story can be told another time," Marcus cut her off, straightening his collar sheepishly.

Her grin just got all the more evil, before it turned warm, showing her pearly white teeth, "Of course dear; you've got a fantastic girl to marry; so don't let me hold you. But just one more thing, someone else would like to send their congratulations."

Before he could ask, just like that, another familiar alliance officer stepped out from the antechamber, standing in the cabin, an equally warm smile on his face, this one fatherly. Marcus grin broadened as he saw the man walk inside; he also wore a suit, this one with a red tie however and was milky white, his dark-skin standing in constrast against it. His muscle easily showed through the suit, as it did with Marcus, but his hands were at his side, firm and strong. He opened his arm to invite Marcus for a different kind of hug; this was one shared between mentor and student. He accepted it gladly.

"Anderson, I was starting to think you wouldn't make it," Marcus greeted, smiling, pulling back from the hug.

The man chuckled, also pulling back, "To be honest, I thought I wouldn't either; being human councilor becomes very...tiring, after a while. I think I'm going to resign Shepard, no offense. I just don't think Council life suits me. I'm still Councilor at the moment, and I'll stay that way until I've done what's needed, but after that, I think I'm going to rejoin the Alliance and retain my old rank; get back to commanding warships. I've left Udina with all the paperwork at the moment, which gives me some kind of alleviation. I think I'll promote him to councilor when I'm done."

Marcus raised an eyebrow, shocked by this news, "I need you Anderson; you're the only man who can get the Council to do anything; the only one with the power to do so. Udina will just kiss their ass all the time."

"The Council's a lost cause and you know it," Anderson responded solemnly, shaking his head, "Got their heads stuck too far up their peace policies that they can't see the real picture. It would be better to just bypass them now, but I wouldn't underestimate Udina Shepard; he's changed. He's always put humanity first, but something's changed about him since you first popped back up on the Citadel a few months back."

He frowned, "How has he changed? Last time I saw Udina, he was still a stuck-up, cynical politician. What changed?"

"Just that. He's still a politician, but he's a new kind of stuck-up. He's our kind of stuck-up. The kind I like," the human councilor smiled, "He's started taking my side in most of the meeting and no longer seems to be kissing the Council's asses; promoting him to human councilor would more benefial in the long run. I'm military and I'm an oddball that the Council can't predict, but Udina knows how the system works. All the loopholes, the advantages and disadvantages, every dirty bit of corrupted propoganda you can put a name to and the one's you can't. He's perfect for the job, and now, with him on our side, we have a better chance at winning this."

Marcus pondered this for a moment.  _I never liked Udina; I always saw him as a stubborn asshole and a typical political archetype, and after the stunt he pulled with grounding the Normandy two years ago, I've always hated his guts. I don't have to like him, but if he's on our side, why should I care? He's good at what he does, and that means alot more than personal opinion of character. And as much as I respect Anderson, he's right: he's not political material and never was. A man like that just can't survive in an environment like that._

He met Anderson's gaze, "I agree. Making Udina human councilor seems like the best move."

Anderson nodded, smiling, "Good. As soon as this wedding is over and I return to the Citadel, I'll announce my retirement. I don't have to make the recommendation, as the Alliance Parliament will undoubtedably jump on the opportunity to make Udina councilor, so that's settled. I guess I'll return to Arcturus after that, meet with Garrong, and discuss my reinstatement into the Systems Alliance Navy. I won't get a ship like the Normandy again, but the Tokyo wasn't so bad."

Hannah decided to interrupt at that moment, "All this politics is fascinating, I'm sure, but don't you have a wedding to attend, Mark?"

Anderson grinned, facing Marcus, "Yes, don't you? Quit slacking! A gentleman should never keep a girl waiting; I know that much!"

Marcus blushed, feeling ashamed for having forgotten what they were here for in the first place, but quickly recovered and moved into the elevator, Hannah and Anderson following, arriving at his sides as the door closed and the elevator began its descent to the CIC deck. He cracked his neck and knuckles, suddenly becoming overly obsessive over how he looked. A hand landed on his shoulder and he turned to face Anderson, who was smiling at him with a warm, reassuring gaze.

"Settle down son," Anderson stated, "You like fine. Keep your eyes down range, fingers on your trigger, and you'll get out of this in one piece. Now move it soldier. You have a target; secure it."

He grinned back at the man and turned back to face the door. Anderson always knew the right things to say to him to get him to focus. When it came to N7s, they didn't make 'em better than David Anderson, and he was lucky to have known the man, served under him and had him as a mentor. And now the man had come all the way from the Citadel to attend the man's wedding; what better adoptive father could you ask for?

There was none.

The elevator arrived at the CIC, and the door slowly opened, as if making a great reveal; and it did; standing there, back turned to the door, was Garrus, wearing a black suit that fitted his large turian form quite well, along with a decent pair of pants and shoes. As they moved out, Garrus noticed them and nodded cordially to Marcus, whistling as he did.

"Didn't realize humans could dress so appropriately," the turian remarked, "Guess you do have a dress code other than combat armor."

"Coming from the turian," Marcus retorted, chortling to himself.

Garrus winced, pulling back as if he'd been shot, "Oooh, that hurt Shepard. Could I have some water for that burn?"

"Go fetch it yourself Vakarian," he joked, turning to walk around the galaxy map, moving towards the flight deck, "I've got a wedding to attend to."

Garrus had no response; he simply followed in the spectre's footsteps, not making a single sound as the four of them arrived at the flight deck and began to walk up the long corridor. And directly ahead, waiting, was Joker, huddled over.

The pilot had elected to wear a suit of his own, reluctantly removing his cap, which was something he  _never_ did. Marcus got a good look at the top of his scalp this time; finding that there was virtually no hair there, his hair growing until it stopped at the area that the cap's edges started.

He avoided their looks as they arrived to stand infront of him, the pilot looking embarassed for the first time in his life, "Yeah yeah, I know. I have a bald spot, you can laugh now. Flight Lieutenant Jeff Moreau, the pilot with the creaky legs and a bald spot."

Before any of them could respond, EDI did, "I like it. It looks...good, on you, Jeff."

Everyone went silent and just looked at the ceiling, as if willing EDI to give them answers to the large amount of awkward questions ringing in their heads. Finally, it was Joker who looked up, a horrified look on his face before he turned to face Marcus, straightening up as he did, "Okkkaaaayyyy...apart from the sexual innuendo the AI just gave to me, I feel fine now. Wish I could keep my cap though."

"You'll survive," Marcus waved it off, motioning towards the airlock, "You've faced worse things than a bald spot."

Joker snorted, rolling his eyes as he caught up, limping as he always did due to the weak bones in his body, "Yeah, I guess going face-to-face with Sovereign was definitely alot worse; but it did have its kickass moment. I'm not feeling one right now."

Garrus and Marcus merely chuckled at that, with Anderson shooting the pilot an inquisitive look before turning back, all of them waiting as EDI ran the decontamination cycle throughout the small compartment.

When the sequence was finished, they stepped out into the Docking Cradle corridor of the Rayya. He turned to look down the hallway, facing his first time on the Rayya without wearing armor. It felt...different, in many ways, and the smell was new; it smelt like...old paint, but it was a pleasant smell. He looked to the group and nodded for Garrus to accompany him, while Joker lagged behind him, Anderson moving to take the lead. Taking a deep breath, he was ready and looked impatiently at his mother as she came to his side, once again kissing him on the cheek.

"Good luck son; make me proud, like you always have," Hannah told him, smiling warmly as she always did.

He nodded at her, his smile as equally as warm, "I will mum, and thank you for coming."

She rolled her eyes, backing away slowly, "Admiral Arefyev was keeping me away from this; and Admiral Garrong knew it. I wouldn't miss my own son's wedding for the galaxy; not even if I got court-marshalled for it," she shot him a final wink, a final smile and then walked away, moving out of sight as she entered the Arena, and Marcus and the other three stayed in position, just waiting for the ceremony to start.

He felt his breathing become heavy and fast, and a taloned hand found his shoulder squeezing it. He gave Garrus a nod, but the turian wasn't satisfied, "Still nervous?" he asked.

"Of course I am," Marcus shook, "Biggest event of my life, what do you think?"

The turian smirked, "Don't know; never been married before. Might be someday..."

Marcus quirked an eyebrow at that, "You think you and Kasumi will ever get that serious about your relationship?"

The turian raised a hand to scratch one of his mandibles sheepishly, squaring his shoulders as he did, "Maybe; I just don't know. I think its just a fling, but sometimes...I think I genuinely care about her...Marcus. But this isn't about me, this is about  _you._ Stop trying to distract me."

Marcus chuckled, looking away, "Whatever you say, dino."

"Ape," Garrus shot back, and they both chuckled under their breath.

"You two quite done?" Joker asked, gaining their attention, "I don't like being the third wheel in the comedy festival."

Garrus smirked at Joker, turning from Marcus to face the pilot, "Is that so? What part of the wheel do you like to be on?"

"Center stage," the pilot answered immediately, "Right in the middle of it all. Call me an attention-grabber."

"Any wise jokes you've got for me?" Marcus asked, as if pleading.

Joker just shot him a deadpan glare, before his lips unfurled into a grin, "A few. Got one about penis size and I've also got a Fleet and Flotilla reference."

Garrus looked about to guffaw, "You  _watched_ that overrated movie?"

Joker shook his head, "No, but EDI thought it'd be funny to play the audio over the loud speakers when I was flying the ship to the Collector Base; said it might 'relieve some of the tension.' It pissed me off; but I did manage to take a few references and really mess them up. Want to hear them?"

"No thanks," Marcus held his hands up to placate the pilot, "I'd rather not be subjected to crappy references before my wedding day."

"Yes, it would be incredibly embarassing if you began to curse my name in the middle of the ceremony," Joker embellished, "You might ask god to strike me down for the sin I've committed."

"Sin with a plural," Marcus added, "You've done your fair share of bad deeds."

"Excuse me if I don't feel like going to the naughty corner," Joker remarked, "Harbinger and his Reaper buddies might already be sitting there and I'd rather not have them as my schoolyard bullies."

Suddenly, further conversation was cut off by the sound of music playing in the Arena, and Marcus immediately recognized it; spinning around, he immediately faced the entrance, straightening up as he did. Garrus did the same, standing straighter than Legion did half the time, and Joker did the same. Anderson, already in position, moved forward and into the Arena, followed by Marcus and Garrus, and then Joker himself.

This was it. The beginning of his life.  _Truly_ the beginning.

He had a right to be nervous alright.

**{Loading...}**

_November 7, 2185_

_0836 hours._

_Arena Exit Corridor, Liveship Rayya, Migrant Fleet, Enoch System, Rosetta Nebula._

_Chief Engineer Tali'Zorah vas Normandy, Admiral Shala'Raan vas Tonbay, Admiral Han'Gerrel vas Neema._

She was terrified. She was exilhirated. She was happy. She was nervous. She was sweating in fear. She was euphoric.

A storm of emotions, all flooding her consciousness at once and it felt overwhelming to her. She tried to force the thoughts out, wanting this moment to be perfect but she was so...so nervous! She felt like she was about to jump out an airlock; she was that terrified. But she wanted this; so badly she did, and Marcus did as well, and they both knew this had been a long time coming, so why was she so terrified?

The entire Flotilla would see it. Everybody; judging her, watching her every move and listening to every word that came from her mouth. Every single bit would be watched, and that was what terrified her; what would her people make of this? Would they like the idea of her marrying a human? Probably not? Should it bother her? No.

So why did it?

These thoughts became irrelevant as she checked herself once more; straightening out her newly adorned suit, tracing the intricate work on them. Marcus had been shown the suit, and he had decided to color it white, to make further hommage to human ceremony, and Tali had ecstatically agreed; she didn't regret the decision one bit.

Instead of an all purple undersuit and veil, she was now covered in pure white, the color almost making her seem like some kind of heavenly angel. She loved the color of it, and it made her smile just looking at it. She kept her purple visor, but the rest of her suit was now lying in a clean room, waiting to be retrieved and taken back to the Normandy; she would wear this suit all day now.

She marvelled at the longer than normal skirt at the end of the dress; instead of ending at her thigh, this one now ended at her ankles; long enough to cover her legs, but not long enough so that she was tripping over it as she walked, making a perfect match. It wasn't as tight knit as the other suit's skirt either; as she spun in a circle, the dress flew out and flowed with her, making her admire it even more. She truly admired the design, and thanked Marcus for his change of heart in the color. It was majestic. It was beautiful.

A elderly laugh caught her as she stopped and her look shot up, reminding her that Han and Shala were present. Shala took Tali's hands in hers, holding them tightly as her eyes met Tali's, "You look stunning Tali; you will surely make other women jealous."

Tali blushed under her mask, "Let them be. I'm where I want to be."

"That's the spirit," Gerrel applauded from nearby at his position sitting on a crate nearby, appraising her form, "You look beautiful Tali; Meru truly is gifted in suit-making. I look forward to seeing you up there."

Shala nodded to Gerrel, turning back to face Tali as her hands smoothed out the fabric around Tali's helmet, "I...I just don't know what else to say. You look even more beautiful than I did on my wedding day; all I wore was my normal suit. You're a lucky woman Tali; make use of it. Be the best we know you can be."

Tali nodded, taking heavy breathing. Noticing this, Shala cocked her head, "Are you nervous, child?"

Tali shook her head. Then she nodded, looking at her fingers that now became latched together and began to fiddle with each other, "Keelah, I've never been in a ceremony like this, and definitely not when I'm getting married. I always imagined it being different; a quiet meeting, a quick affliction of love, and then a couple of hours of passionate lovemaking in a clean room followed by announcement that you're married. I never expected it to be...this up front."

Gerrel chuckled, "You were a kid back then Tali and you believed the world to be easier than it is; but don't worry, trust me, its not as bad as it looks. I was terrified at my wedding, but when I saw my wife up on that podium, all I could think of was her. Keep your eyes on Shepard, and you'll find your nervousness melts away; being nervous is perfectly natural when getting married. It just gets the tough ones to overcome it and think of the bigger picture."

"Yeah Tals," a familiar, welcomed voice sounded behind the quarian, followed by the deactivation of a cloak. Tali spun to face the thief, who smiled at her and the quarian was almost startled by Kasumi's new appearence. The thief no longer wore her hooded outfit; but instead wore a dress that hugged her curves and body, showing only a modest amount of cleavage. It was a dark black in color and she wore short jeans. She smiled up at Tali; and with a lack of hood, the quarian finally got a proper look at her facial features.

Her eyes were a dazzling sapphire blue, with long, raven black hair that ran up past her ears before ending just at the base of her neck. She already knew of the tattoo on her lower lip, but she hadn't been able to see the smooth cheeks and round nose; Kasumi was beautiful, by human standards and quarian.

Tali could only gawk at Kasumi's smiling form and she could only mutter one sentence, "K-K-Kasumi, you-you're...you're...beautiful! That dress...its amazing!"

Kasumi looked down at her dress, smiling as she did before facing Tali again, "Not my finest clothing arrangement Tali; I personally don't like it, but its all I had, and I didn't want to turn up to a wedding in my usual attire, so I got it out. I'll suffer for my little quarian, just this once."

"You're face," Tali responded, "I don't think I've ever seen it...fully, before."

Kasumi giggled, waving a dismissive hand, "I haven't seen yours at all, so maybe that'll change today. Finally get to see the face of my little sis."

Shala finally interjected into the conversation, "You must be Miss Goto. Tali speaks highly of you."

Kasumi smiled, winking at Tali before turning back to Shala, taking the extended hand and shaking it, "And you must be Tali's auntie; nice to meet you...can I call you Shala?"

"Of course," Shala responded, smiling behind her mask, but obviously Kasumi didn't see it. She nodded to the quarian admiral and spun around to face Tali, "Wrex will be here in a minute; he's just a little bit embarassed, having to leave his armor."

"Wrex...leaving his  _armor_?" Tali giggled, "This I have to see."

"Don't get so excited," said an aggravated and gruff voice from behind them, "Its nothing to gawk at."

Everybody turned to face the krogan, and Tali almost burst out laughing at what she saw, only managing to keep in her mirth by covering her mouth with a gloved hand.

There Wrex stood, glowering at them, wearing a suit, or what passed as a suit among krogan, that was a red deep in color. It multiple pockets along the front and was obviously meant for casual wear; not for special occassions; although special occassions meant krogan most likely involved combat armor anyway.

"Wrex, you look...nice." Tali commented, trying to stifle further laughter.

Wrex rolled his eyes, "Yeah, thanks," he responded gruffly, pointing a finger at Kasumi, "I officially despise her; she made me wear this."

Kasumi grinned evilly, "And you look very sexy, Mr. Wrex. The women will be all over you."

Wrex shook his head, growling while looking at the floor, mumbling something under his breath. He looked up and moved forward, joining them casually as he leaned back against the wall, arms crossed. He threw a glare at Kasumi, "I'm not done with you thief. Don't ever cross a krogan."

Kasumi tsked, "I'm not just  _a_ thief, I'm the  _Master_ Thief. I can disappear and you'll never find me, unless I want you to. Best not be making idle threats, Mr. Wrex! Its unbecoming of a gentleman!"

Wrex waved an arm, snorting, "Do krogan look 'gentle,' to you?"

Kasumi actually had to think about that one as she leaned back on her heel, "No...no I guess not. But its the thought that counts!"

Wrex waved an arm at her once more, "You can take your 'gentleman' and shove it up your-"

"Charmed," Shala deadpanned, shaking her head.

Gerrel stood up, moving to meet the krogan with a handshake, who looked at him inquisitively, "You must be Urdnot Wrex, the one who taught my niece how to use a shotgun and how to fight. I did notice she became alot more...aggressive in combat ever since she got back from pilgrimage."

Wrex allowed a grin to spread across his maw, the krogan wrapping his own three-fingered hand around Gerrel's in a tightening grip, "Didn't realize Tali had another uncle!"

Gerrel looked at him quizzically, "I don't under-"

"Uncle Wrex..." Tali trailed off, tone hinting promised wrath, wagging a finger at the krogan, "Behave."

The krogan rolled his eyes, looking back at Gerrel, "I tell you...what's your name?"

"Gerrel," he responded, "Admiral Han'Gerrel vas Neema."

"Yeah," Wrex replied, "I tell you Han, she's something this one; aggressive too. I might have rubbed off on her, and now she's fiester than usual. I might have made a quarian/krogan hybrid, come to think of it."

Gerrel rubbed the side of his helmet, "I don't understand...you're her uncle too?"

"Call it a bond," Tali added, crossing her arms, "I started calling him Uncle Wrex as a tease, and he called me his 'quarian niece,' and it kinda stuck. I guess it just turned into a bond."

"She may not be not be my niece by blood, but she is my niece at heart," Wrex affirmed securely, stomping his foot down, "Anyone who messes with her, messes with me."

Shala nodded, "Well, it was nice to meet you Miss Goto, Mister Wrex, but I just got a message from the podium. They're about to start, so I'd get ready if I were you. Gerrel, you better get outside and into position quickly."

Gerrel nodded, shaking Wrex's hand once more, "We should talk some more, Mr. Wrex. It seems we share an interest in military culture, as is expected with krogan."

"Look forward to it," Wrex slapped the admiral on the back to get him moving, "Now get out there; you've got a wedding to oversee. Time for talk and alcohol later. I hope ryncol's on the menu."

Gerrel nodded and left, door closing behind him. Shala took the front, standing straight while Tali came in behind her, Kasumi at her side. And of course, Wrex took the area behind them, pushing himself off the wall to stand behind them, cracking his neck as he got ready.

Tali gulped, suddenly nervous again. Kasumi elbowed her and smiled, gaining the quarian's attention, "You'll be fine. Just remember what old Gerrel said; look him in the eye, and soon, nothing else will matter. I'm sure it works. Never been married before, but I think I get the general gist from all those corny romance movies."

Tali nodded just as the music outside began to play. Shala looked at her and offered a supportive nod, before turning back around herself, tapping the door interface, and stepping out into the Arena. With a close of her eyes, a final inhale and exhale of breath, and straightening her posture, she locked her arm with Kasumi's and they moved forward and outside.

This was it. The beginning of her life.  _Truly_ the beginning.

She had a right to be nervous alright.

**{Loading...}**

_November 7, 2185_

_0848 hours._

_The Arena, Liveship Rayya, Migrant Fleet, Enoch System, Rosetta Nebula._

_Commander Marcus Lee Shepard, Captain Hannah Rila Shepard, Councilor David Edward Anderson, Gunnery Master Garrus Vakarian, Flight Lieutenant Jeff 'Joker' Moreau, Admiral Han'Gerrel vas Neema._

He had done it; he had made it this far. He was standing on the podium, hands clasped infront of him, taking shallow breaths as he waited for the music to play again, and for the love of his life to walk up and onto the podium alongside him. Garrus stood to his right, facing the crowd, hands clasped behind him and Joker stood on Garrus' left, basically doing the same thing. And on the area above them stood Hannah and Anderson, side by side, also facing the crowd, with the podium on their right only occupying Gerrel at the present moment.

Deciding to let the minutes tick away, he looked around at the crowd while he waited. They all talked amongst each other; a session that would continue until the music began playing again. Most of the crowd was quarian, but he could easily make out his crew. To his surprise, Hannah had brought Phillipo with her, who had given Marcus a thumbs up from his position in the crowd, in the second row to the front, smiling at Marcus as he sat, talking with one of Marcus' crew, Kelly, who was wearing mascara and a green dress for the occassion and was speaking in hushed tones with Phillipo; it was the first time he had seen Kelly geniunely smile since the Collector Base.

Gardner sat on Phillipo's right, hands clasped infront of him and watching the stage; further to his right, was Gabby and Ken, who were engaged in active conversation, which looked like Gabby, again, scolding Ken.  _Wonder what it is this time..._ The rest of the row was occupied by the rest of the standard Normandy crew, Chakwas sitting at the end and talking with one particular crewman, a warm smile on her face.

And that was just the front row. The second row occupied the ground team, all of them seated in order of deck of work place. Mordin sat behind Kelly, still wearing his white labcoat due to lack of a change of clothing, but having cleaned up and was in quiet conversation with Lia, who sat on his right, the quarian also cleaning up for the event. Sitting further on the right of Lia was Jacob, Kal and Kaidan, all of them laughing at a story that Kal was telling, Jacob looking like he was going to piss himself while Kaidan barely contained his own laughter.

Next to them was Samara and three empty seats for Liara, Miranda and Thane, who couldn't come for obvious reasons, so those three seats were now occupied by three quarian women; childhood friends of Tali, they had stated, to conserve room in the Arena. Samara looked passive, but faced the stage with a meek smile on her face; but she did look troubled. He'd have to ask her about it later, but he had a feeling it had to do with Peta.  _No, don't think about him. He's gone. Just worry about what matters..._

To the right of the three quarian girls was Jack, who was listening to a story from Captain Qet'Danna vas Rayya, who apparently had alot of stories to keep the convict entertained. Obviously, Legion couldn't be present, and the rest of the team was either away with Liara or currently with Shepard or Tali. The rest of rows were filled with quarians; including the entirety of the Conclave or their representatives, Admiral Koris, Veetor and Elan, and many more.

Marcus smiled at each and every one of them, glad that they could come. Anderson had invited Admiral Hackett to join, who apparently had reluctantly rejected due to the Alliance keeping him extremely busy and that he had to keep tabs on a 'secret operation' to do with the batarian hegemony; something that had sparked Marcus' interest, but ultimately not something he wanted to worry about at this time.

The loudness of the crowd seemed to die down in an instant as Marcus breathed in an out for the final time, the spectre going to face the wall infront of him when the music began to play. He widened his eyes and turned his eyes to face the exit door; the same door he went through with Tali to deal with the Alarei situation. That had felt so long ago now.  _This is it. Keep your cool, Marcus. Don't fuck this up._

The collar around his neck suddenly felt choking, but he ignored it, electing not to adjust it. He had made the right choice. Everyone watched as the door shot open with a mechanical hiss and the first person to step out, the influential and guiding person, stepped out, revealing the form of Admiral Shala'Raan vas Tonbay, her posture straight, proud and unwithering. She moved with grace in her step; not too fast, and not too slow, but just enough for Tali and the others to catch up. And the next person to step out took his breath away.

He watched as Tali, arm in arm with Kasumi, walked out. Kasumi was wearing a curvy dress and her hood was missing, revealing her face, which would have shocked him, and he was sure he almost heard Garrus gasp temporarily behind him, but Marcus didn't care; his eyes were focused on that  _beauty._

Tali had discarded her other suit for the dress her mother had made her, with the white changes he suggested being added, and she looked  _stunning_ in it. Every step was almost hidden by the skirt of the suit, and her purple visor stood in stark contrast to the rest of the veil, making her look like a heavenly angel as she moved down the isle. All he could focus on was her, and all she could focus on was him, and suddenly, the choking collar faded away into nothing. He barely even felt it, his eyes meeting hers. Hell, he barely even noticed Wrex joining in behind them in his hilarious suit.

Within moments, Tali was joining him on the podium, standing a few inches away from him, hands wrapped in his and Kasumi and Wrex assumed similiar positions to that of Garrus and Joker, and Shala took her position next to Gerrel.

He looked her in the eyes as the parents got ready, and let a large smile cross his face as he looked at her, whispering in a soft voice, "Sorry to tell you; but you look absolutely  _beautiful_ in that. No more than usual, but still..."

He was sure she was blushing under her mask, but she responded in kind, "You don't look too bad yourself. You're very handsome."

"Touche," he responded, smiling all the more at her response and having to push back the urge to just hold her in his arms, rip off her mask and kiss her. Instead, he just kept their hands locked; there would be time for that soon. His smile stayed put, as did hers, as the ceremony opened up, everyone turning to face the stage.

The procession soon began, with Shala speaking up first, clearing her throat as she spoke, "We are brought here today to celebrate the union of two souls, who the ancestors have guided to each other, to unite as one in love, passion and protection," she then went into motherly mode, "I stand for the bride, Tali'Zorah vas Normandy, as Shala'Raan vas Tonbay, her mother. I stand in agreement of this marriage, and the ancestors smile upon me."

Hannah took off, repeating the same words, but differently, reading from a datapad, due to her limited knowledge on quarian culture, "I stand for the groom, Marcus'Shepard vas Normandy, as Hannah'Shepard vas Orizaba, his mother. I stand in agreement of this marriage, and god smiles upon me."

This time, Anderson spoke, datapad in hand as he read, "We will now proceed with the committment of vows, beginning with Marcus'Shepard vas Normandy."

Marcus hadn't even turned away from Tali for the entire time, and felt the weight of the eyes now falling down on him. He had prepared the entire speech and just hoped he could remember it; but he couldn't. But in times like these, Marcus was known for his art of speech. He had shouted down the Admiralty Board without a script, so he could profess his love without one too.

He gulped, clearing his throat, coughing as he did, and began to speak, voice loud enough so everyone could hear, "Tali, I first met you two years ago down in the Lower Wards of the Citadel. It was during my mission to stop Saren as I was gathering evidence to prove him guilty. I met three people that day; people who I hold close to my heart, and people I have come to trust with my life, but only one of them have I chosen to dedicate my life too; to bind my life to theirs."

"I met you that day, in the Wards, because you needed help. You had information I could use to prove Saren's guilt, but you were also in trouble, and you needed my help. I saved you, and let you join my team, and little did I know that I would eventually find myself loving you, and eventually marrying you. The days we shared during the Eden Prime War I cherish Tali; the heat of Therum, the horrors of Feros, the crimes on Noveria, the death on Virmire, and the melancholy on Ilos. We went through it together. And through that, we developed a bond. We fell in love."

"I admired your courage, your strength, and how selfless you were. You put everybody's needs before your own, and it...I don't know, I guess I just felt...a connection with you. And the more I listened to your stories, the more I realized how much your people are like mine; the Jewish people. I mean, I'm technically defying Jewish law by marrying outside of my people, but now that I realize it...it really doesn't matter, because we were meant to be together. You believed in me when noone else would; everyone thought I'd betrayed them when I joined Cerberus, but you didn't care what banner I flew under; you only saw me, and I love you all the more for that."

"I love you, Tali'Zorah vas Normandy," Marcus finally finished, squeezing her hands as he did, "And, no matter what happens, I call it a privledge, an honor, to have known you, loved you, and finally, bonded to you. I hope we live a fruitful and happy life together, for as long as we draw breath. I, Marcus'Shepard vas Normandy, take you as my wife, to love you, cherish you, and protect you until death do us part. Keelah Se'lai."

He heard a sob from Shala, and one from Hannah, both women obviously moved by the passionate speech as Gerrel spoke, smile evident in his voice, "We will now proceed with the bride's committment of vows."

All eyes fell on Tali, and she seemed to freeze up. He squeezed her hands and smiled warmly at her as reassurance to let her know he was there, and that seemed to give her the courage to speak up, "Well...uh...I don't know where to start really...I do remember the start of my pilgrimage. How terrifying it was; going into a galaxy so full of hate and racism, and to feel so alone and disconnected from my people; it was disheartening. I'd seen all the worst the galaxy had to offer, and before I knew, I was carrying the weight of millions of lives on my shoulders as I was pursued throughout the galaxy by Saren's assassins."

She sighed, shifting her feet as she met Marcus' eyes, "Arriving at the Citadel, my life seemed so hopeless; little did I know how much my life would change. My friend dies and I'm trying to exchange information for a safe place to hide; next thing I know, I've been betrayed, almost killed, and then rescued all at the same time, and by a three human marines, a turian C-Sec officer and a krogan mercenary of all people!"

"I...call it cliche, but I felt like it was love at first sight. I felt instantly attracted to you, like I felt a force...drawing me towards you. So I joined the crew of the Normandy, and I felt my whole life turn around, all my judgments were just...swept away! A galaxy so full of hate and racism, and I was so alone...and before I know it, I'm on the Alliance's most advanced starship, the galaxy's most advanced, I should say, surrounded by people who...treated me as an equal. But none of them mattered quite so much as you; and before I knew it, I was in love. And so were you. It just took awhile to realize it."

"We've had our dilemmas, but we got through them all," she lifted a hand and cradled his cheek, smiling behind her mask, "We got through them all, like we always do. The geth, Saren, Sovereign, the Collectors, Harbinger, we got through them all, and we'll do the same with the Shadow Broker," she laughed, "We always pull through. Your determination, bravery and ability to care for those around you makes you better than every other leader in history; because you  _care._ And its an honor, to know you, and love you, too."

"I love you, Marcus'Shepard vas Normandy," Tali finished, letting her hand fall back to her side as she sniffed, still smiling as she continued, "And, no matter what happens, I call it a privledge, an honor, to have known you, loved you, and finally, bonded to you. I hope we live a fruitful and happy life together, for as long as we draw breath. I, Tali'Zorah vas Normandy, take you as my husband, to love you, cherish you, and protect you until death do us part. Keelah Se'lai."

With both of them finished, the entire crowd erupted into applause, with some of the crowd mimicking the word 'keelah se'lai.' He even heard Chakwas exclaimed 'ahhhh' as she finished in a motherly tone, and three of Tali's friend squeal in excitement as they clapped loudly. Eventually, Shala brought order to the room, speaking once more.

"We now proceed with the presentation of bonding gifts," she shakily said, sniffing as she stepped back to contain her tears of joy, Gerrel patting her shoulder. Anderson smiled at them, hands clasped behind his back, while Hannah did the same, fresh tears on her cheeks.

Garrus moved forward with a little box, moving to stand beside Tali, presenting the gift as he shot Marcus a knowing grin. Kasumi did the same with Marcus, also presenting a box. Once done, both of them pulled the box towards them, opened the box and presented the two partners the appropriate wedding rings before retreating to their original positions.

Tali placed a large, golden ring on Marcus' third finger while Marcus took Tali's hand and inserted a smaller, similiar ring on Tali's middle finger, or in her case, her second finger. Both of them receeded, retook their hands and smiled at each other once more.

Gerrel spoke this time, "You may now remove the bride's faceplate."

Joker came to stand by Marcus' side and Wrex by Tali's as the two of them prepared to remove each other's masks. Marcus obviously lacked one, so Joker didn't need to do anything, but just as to mock him, Joker made an 'unveiling' action, like that of what a bullfighter does with his sheet when the bull runs past, and makes an over exaggerated 'wol-lah' face to the crowd, who laugh at the action, and Marcus just shoots the pilot a mild, amused glare.

Wrex, careful to not damage Tali's visor, has trouble removing her visor as his fingers are far too large to get inside, and the krogan begins to make annoyed grumbles as he struggles. He hears Joker sighing beside him, making an eye roll gesture and the crowd laughs again. Eventually, whether upon impulse or something else, Marcus leans forward and removes Tali's visor himself, the hiss of air releasing soothing to his ears as he pulled the visor away to reveal her face, the quarian smiling and blushing; an incredibly blue tinge to her cheeks.

"Holy cow..." Joker exclaimed, "She is...is...holy cow!"

Marcus almost elbowed the pilot in the ribs, but knowing he had bones like glass, he turned around and shot him a 'shut up' glare, to which the pilot took notice and did just that. Wrex, still grumbling, pulled away and picked up the box containing the ink, handing it to Tali, who took it, still smiling. She faced Marcus, her smile almost melting him. He too almost forgot about the ink box until Joker spoke up.

"Uh...Rayya to Shepard?" the pilot asked, waving a hand infront of the spectre's face.

Marcus grinned and took the box, turning back to Tali who was already dipping her ring finger in the black ink, taking a dip size and raising it in anticipation. She took deep breaths, not quite believing that this was it; once they did this and the lines were painted, they were officially husband and wife. He gave her one more smile before dipping his own finger in the ink and raising it towards Tali's face.

His finger touched the top of her forehead and drew downwards, her smooth skin making it a seamless transition from point A to point B and in the matter of a second, a third line was added on Tali's head.

Tali shakily did the same to his own forehead, and the cool ink sunk into his skin, giving off a pleasant feeling. As they handed the boxes back to their caretakers, and said caretakers retreated back to their previous positions, Tali almost broke into tears as everything hit her at once. And finally, he could reach out, take her in his arms and embrace her, both of them now officially married.

Shakily, but with evident pride, Shala spoke, "I...now pronounce these two married in matrimony; this union has made the ancestors weep for joy, and has allowed another heart to beat alongside the already present. Two brains become one, two hearts become one, two bodies...become one. This is the Union of One, as is blessed by the ancestors, and we say, Keelah Se'lai!"

Hannah finished, adding the human ending for extra spice, "I now pronounce the both of you husband and wife. You may now kiss the bride."

Marcus smiled as he pulled away from Tali and held her in his arms. They both looked into each other's eyes, and knew it was meant to be. Without further hesitation, he leaned forward and locked her lips with his, both of their mouths crashing together as they pulled into each other and the crowd cheered behind them, clapping as they launched from their seats and congraluated the two of them. He heard Kasumi and Joker whistle, Garrus clap loudly and Wrex give out a krogan howl to symbolize his consent, also slamming his fists together for added effect. Shala and Gerrel clapped and Hannah cried as she did the same. Anderson clapped loudly, the man's eyes moist with unshed tears, the man remaining professional until the very end. But all Tali could feel was Tali's essence being breathed into him.

Never had see tasted as good as she did that day.

**{Loading...}**

_November 7, 2185_

_0932 hours._

_The Arena, Liveship Rayya, Migrant Fleet, Enoch System, Rosetta Nebula._

_Commander Marcus Lee Shepard, Chief Engineer Tali'Shepard vas Normandy, Admiral Shala'Raan vas Tonbay, Admiral Han'Gerrel vas Neema, Admiral Zaal'Koris vas Qwib Qwib, Gunnery Master Garrus Vakarian, Master Thief Kasumi Goto, Chieftain Urdnot Wrex, Flight Lieutenant Jeff 'Joker' Moreau, Captain Hannah Rila Shepard, Councilor David Edward Anderson, Professor Mordin Solus, Senior Assistant Lia'Vael nar Ulnay, Staff Commander Kaidan Alenko, Major General Kal'Reegar vas Normandy, First Lieutenant Madi'Soi vas Ceresa, First Lieutenant Jacob Taylor, Justicar Samara, Medical Chief Karin Chakwas, Subject Zero Jack, Power Engineer Kenneth Donnelly, Propulsion Engineer Gabriella Daniels, Mess Sergeant Rupert Gardner, Yeoman Kelly Chambers, Navigator Veetor'Nara vas Rayya, Medical Chief Elan'Shiya vas Rayya, Captain Qet'Danna vas Rayya._

The wedding feast was huge; everybody joined in, with Marcus deciding to combine all the tables together to form one big amalgamation, with himself and Tali seated near the front with the rest of the Normandy crew. Kasumi managed to seak a seat next to Garrus, to the other turian's uncomfort. Many dishes had been made and prepared by Gardner, in tandem with quarians to make sure the food was appropriately sterilized, and to say it was impressive was a gross understatement.

The clink of cutlery and dishes was heard, but was overshadowed by the mass sound of chatter and laughter and conversation. Stories were told, congratulations for the newly weds given, and laughter erupted. Marcus sat with his wife, arm wrapped around her waist and holding her close as they talked with Wrex. Anderson sat next to Tali, listening avidly as the krogan spoke, with Hannah and Shala sharing a much needed conversation between each other, glasses of wine, levo and dextro, in hand.

Eventually, the animated conversations came to a halt as Garrus stood up, clearing his throat as loudly as he could while asking Wrex to get everyone's attention. The krogan growled loud enough for the whole to ship to hear, and all eyes landed on him, before quickly noticing the turian and locking on him. The turian smiled and picked up his drink, immediately turning to Marcus and Tali, a smirk still on his faces.

"I don't know how you humans do it, but I hear the best man is supposed to give a 'toast' for the newly wedded couple," Garrus stated, holding his glass he alternated between looking at the couple and the rest of the table occupants, "I've known you two for quite some time now; I met Marcus in the Council Chambers, when I was arguing with Executor Palin about getting permission to further my investigation on Saren. Joined him not long after, and met Tali in the Wards when we saved her. Or, rather, Marcus saved her," he motioned his drink at the man in question, causing that man to chuckle, "I was there since the beginning; and I can say just what a privledge it has been to know you two."

"Of course, it started off as a tense relationship, and I've had...not so proud moments," Garrus lamented, "There was this one time that Marcus agreed to help me track down a salarian doctor by the name of Saleon Yules, who experimented on people and used them as walking 'organ farms.' We caught him, this time under the name of Untaav Heart, and boarded his ship, the MSV Fedele. It got ugly fast; you had a salarian doctor with an infatuation with selling organs, Cerberus commandos and to top it off, we faced rachni, although we wouldn't have known it then," he grinned at Marcus, but suddenly lost it when he finished, "I...Saleon caught Tali and I would have shot her just to kill Saleon, but Marcus stopped me. Damn, he really gave me a scolding. He even opened up a bit of his past to straighten me out. It meant alot to me that he did that; it changed me, just like he changes alot of people."

Marcus just continued to smile, allowing Garrus to continue as Tali lied happily in his arms, still in her wedding suit, head laying on his shoulder, "I became a new man that day; I sought to change my ideals. And even two years later, when I went on the path of revenge to kill a man I thought a traitor to my team, and he was, he managed to change me. Talked me out of it; showed me who I was becoming. He's forever redirecting me, and for that, I have the honor of knowing him, not just as a best friend, but as a brother. And Tali? I used to hate her simply because she was a quarian. But once again,  _she_ opened my eyes and showed me just what quarians were all about; showed me how foolish and ignorant I was, how arrogant I was being."

"When it came down to it, you two have been with me every step of the way," the turian concluded, motioning to both of them, "These two I have come to know as not just my best friends, but as family. I don't know where I'd be without them, and I couldn't think of a perfect couple. I won't lie, I once had feelings for Tali myself," he nodded and everyone seemed to look at him with surprise, including Tali and Marcus, and especially Kasumi, "Yes, that's right, I once felt the same way. But when I saw how you two were around each other; how Tali watched your every move, and how protective Marcus was of her, how could I stand in the way of that? I couldn't compare to that; so I stood down and let you two have your moment. I let you two be together, because honestly, you two are inseperable as it is."

"Wherever you go, Tali and Marcus, I'm with you," Garrus smiled, raising his drink in the air, "There's no Shepard without Vakarian, and Tali is now a proud member of the Shepard family, is she not!? So let us give it to them! To the Shepards!" He thrusted his drink further into the air, and his call was followed by every one else, all of them thrusting their own drinks in the air before sitting back down and sipping them, Garrus quickly following, the turian inhaling and exhaling.

Marcus raised an eyebrow at the turian, "Mr. Vakarian, I didn't realize you were so good at speeches. Why wasn't I told?"

Garrus laughed, "Please, I leave that stuff to you, I'm just a rookie by comparison. Besides, I've been saving that one for just this occassion. I wanted to get that all out."

"Didn't realize you felt that way about me Garrus," Tali teased, "I'm touched."

Garrus replied with a raised eyebrow, smirking, "A pleasure, Mrs. Shepard."

Tali giggled just as Hannah turned around, "What's a pleasure? What about me?" She then turned around and looked at the massive grin on Garrus' face. Hannah looked at Tali and then grinned herself, both her and Garrus both cracking into laughter. When both of them were done, Hannah slapped the table with her hand, "I'm going to have to get used to that. I just hope we're both not in proximity when they say that, dear, or we may have a problem on our hands."

Tali shrugged, "Its going to take getting used to; being called that. It sounds so...foreign. Before I loved Marcus, I always called him Shepard, and now people will be calling me Mrs. Shepard. It'll be so confusing among the crew."

Joker guffawed, "You've created a dilemma Shepard!"

Both Tali and Marcus faced Joker at the same time, and spoke at the same time, "How?" They both looked at each other, back at Joker, and then broke into laughter. Joker sighed, rolling his eyes.

"The crew is going to go crazy."

"No more crazier than with you on it, I'm sure," Anderson quipped, "You used to drive me insane."

Joker smirked, leaning back in his seat, "I have my talents. I'm not useful just for flying ships you know; I know the thing that makes people break."

"A useful trait I'm sure," Hannah replied before turning back to talk with Shala, not allowing Joker to even respond. The pilot sputtered and turned to Marcus for assistance, but the commander merely shrugged and Joker seemed to give up, pouting as he leaned back over his food, pretending everyone didn't exist.

Quickly remembering past events, Marcus called out to Samara across the table, catching the justicar's attention, "Yes, Shepard?" Samara asked, and again, both Marcus and Tali turned to face the asari, but after a bit, Tali rolled her eyes and turned back to her conversation with Madi.

"I'd just like to apologize...about Peta," Marcus sighed, "You were right, and I was stupid, I should have-"

"Talk no more of it," Samara replied, a warm smile gracing her lips, "What has happened is in the past, and I hold no grudge against you. Enjoy your moment of peace and solitude while it lasts commander; and do not dwell on the past."

Marcus nodded in thanks and turned back to the group, once again pulling Tali further into him, to which Tali both gasped in shock and moaned in delight, digging deeper into Marcus' chest and resting her head on his shoulder, letting out a sigh of content that quickly became contagious and caused him to release a similiar sound. Both of them were interrupted however when they saw Garrus looking rather uncomfortable as Kasumi sat next to him, the young thief smiling at him with a large grin as he seemed to eye her wearily.

"So, Kasumi..." Garrus began, "You look...different..."

Kasumi looked at him with a raised eyebrow, "How do you mean, Garbear?"

Garrus' eyes widened and he shot a glare at Marcus and Tali, who quickly stopped laughing, both of them pretending to not be listening in as they looked at each other. Garrus turned back to Kasumi, shaking his head, forgetting the drop of that particular nickname.

"Um...well...uh..." Garrus stuttered, the turian essentially tripping over himself constantly, "You...well...your hood, its...well, uh...missing and your face is...uh...seeable."

Kasumi's grin raised, and her lips twitched to the left, "Interesting; any other observations, Detective Vakarian?"

Marcus couldn't help but quietly chuckle and Tali almost giggled non-stop, but luckily, Garrus couldn't hear them. Jacob couldn't keep his mouth shut though, almost guffawing but was stopped as a dextro muffin impacted him in the side of the head, Garrus shooting him a predatory glare that told him to shut up. The armourer quickly melted into the background, making himself scarce, to the turian's immense relief as he turned back to Kasumi; and if turians could sweat, Garrus would be.

"Well...uh..." Garrus scratched his neck sheepishly, "Your...um...well, if you were turian...uh...well...I'd be...complimenting your waist or your fringe, so...I...think your...waist is...very supportive, and your...uh...hair is...good?"

Kasumi dropped her smile and tried to look offended just to tease Garrus, but apparently the turian took it too seriously, "I...was that offensive in human culture? Uh damn...well, uh...shit, should have watched those damn vids...well, I guess...um..."

Kasumi almost laughed out loud, catching Garrus by surprise, his look slowly dissolving into an angry glare as he realized the thief played him. Once done, she looked back at him, wiping her eyes, still grinning, "You're hilarious Garrus; you stutter almost as much as Tali, if not worse! You're adorable! But seriously; my waist is supportive? My hair looks  _good?_ You're such a sweet talker! Consider me seduced, big guy!"

Marcus coughed, gaining both of their attention, "Just letting you know that this is  _my_ wedding; keep it for the bedroom, you two."

"Its my wedding too," Tali scoffed.

He looked down at her, "And you agree?"

Tali nodded, "Yeah."

He looked at them with a smug grin, but Kasumi just rolled her eyes and Garrus ignored him, focusing on the thief, "Oh...shut up, Shep. Let us have our thing. Besides, this is pretty funny," she turned back to Garrus, "Now, you hilarious ball of turian, what do you think of my change in appearence, huh? What do you think of me?" She hit an epiphany and giggled, "I know! A challenge; try to describe me in one word. Go!"

Garrus seemed to take a moment to think on that one, almost mimicking Tali's 'playing with the fingers' gesture movement for movement. After a bit, the turian seemed to hit the perfect word as his eyes lit up and he looked at the thief, sudden confidence in his pose, "I...think you're beautiful, Kasumi."

Marcus and Tali both waited for Kasumi's retort or tease, but it didn't come. They waited another moment, but nothing happened. Garrus' look changed into one of surprise, and they all turned to look at Kasumi, who had literally frozen to the spot. Kasumi's smile had dropped and she looked blank, like she couldn't comprehend what Garrus had just called her. They waited for a response, and it came, but Kasumi's voice wasn't jovial and determined it was...shaky?

"You..." she began, coughing as she cleared her throat, gulped, and finished her sentence, "You really think that? You think I'm...beautiful?"

Garrus nodded hesitantly, also gulping, "Yeah...I've never seen you without the hood, and you look beautiful-"

He never got to finish as Kasumi leapt across the table, pouncing on the table and basically launching him from the table and onto the floor, Garrus' chair falling over as he went with it, multiple pounds of thief colliding into him. The turian fell, back on the floor, as Kasumi landed ontop of him, reminding Marcus of Tali's pounce during their first time together. Everyone nearby leaned over to observe the two of them, and found an hilarious and heartwarming sight.

Kasumi's lips slammed against Garrus' mandibles, both of them passionately kissing like there was no tomorrow. Garrus, recovering from his shock, wrapped his arms around her and pulled her in, deepening the kiss, and both of them moaned in pleasure. Everyone turned away and returned to their seats, deciding to give the two some privacy.

After a bit, they broke for air, both of them looking into each other's eyes, the shock gone from Garrus' eyes. He lifted one hand and pushed one stand of fallen hair out of the japanese woman's face, curling it behind one ear. He smiled and she smiled, both of them taken up in the moment, both of them dropping their sarcastic rivalry for a second and realizing that this was more than just a fling...this might turn into an actual relationship.

Garrus' smile turned into a smirk, and he finished the sentence he didn't get to finish before Kasumi pounced on him, "-for a human."

She grinned back, slapping him on the shoulder as she sat there, still straddling his waist before leaning in and kissing him again. Garrus moaned in euphoria before the kiss suddenly ended, the thief getting up and suddenly disappearing in an instant, her cloak activated and the sounds of her feet jogging could be heard, only to get more distant...she's running away!

"You want the rest of that kiss?" Kasumi chuckled, "Come and catch me, Detective Vakarian!"

Garrus grinned.  _You're on._ He leapt up and immediately ran for the thief, trying to find the telltale signs of distortion in the air that gave away the cloak. He saw it near the exit and chased after the thief, everyone laughing at both of them as they ran.

Marcus chuckled and Tali giggled, but they eventually dissolved into nothing as they settled down, the spectre finally deciding to start eating the food he had barely touched. Tali came to the same conclusion and picked up a food tube, this one loaded with turian chocolate, which had decidedly become Tali's favourite upon melting in her mouth.

Marcus just chuckled more as Jacob and Kaidan prepared for an arm wrestle. All the men gathered around, including Marcus, which caused the women, including Tali to just roll their eyes. Jacob smiled as he eyed Kaidan, eyes full of wicked intent.

"Prepared for defeat, Alenko?" Jacob asked, smiling, "Admitting defeat before suffering it is better than actually suffering it."

"Wise words from an ingrate," Kaidan replied, placing his elbow on the table, hand stretched out and awaiting Jacob's. The armourer let out a whistle.

"Oh, this one is feisty!" Jacob replied, wooing loudly, "We might make an N7 of you yet."

Kaidan grinned back, grabbing Jacob's hand as the soldier repeated Kaidan's action, both of them holding, "I practically already am; was with  _the_ N7 since the beginning, remember?"

Jacob just smirked, "Doesn't make you an N7."

"Both of you are pyjaks," Wrex growled playfully, smiling as he spoke, "But Alenko is my kind of pyjak. Come on Taylor, prove your worth. Prove your the mightier pyjak and I might pit myself against you."

Jacob just looked at him hopelessly, "But you'll easily beat me! You're stronger!"

"Exactly!" Wrex boomed, chuckling, "I'm a krogan, what do you expect? But its the honor of doing it to begin with that counts!"

"Come on Staff Commander," Anderson cheered, "Show him what you have. You're an Alliance marine, show him what that means!"

Gardner cheered for Jacob, "Show that marine he's fallible!"

With that, the match began in earnest. Strain was clearly seen on both men's faces for a moment as both of them seemed unable to move the other's hand, both of them staying in place. But after a while, Jacob began to push Kaidan back, further and further, until the marine's fist was inches from the table top. Jacob gave a smug smile, but quickly dropped it when he saw a similiar smile on Kaidan's face.

In hindsight, the marine hadn't been trying at all; that fact that he was a biotic had made his muscle more resistant and stronger, and therefore he was stronger for it. Kaidan had pretended to show strain, and let Jacob pour all his strength into his hand. With him exhausted, Kaidan fought back, pushing Jacob's fist over so quickly that noone was fully able to comprehend what was happening until Jacob's fist slammed into the table, and everyone who supported Kaidan cheered, the marine in question taking a swig of a jug of canadian beer.

The armourer looked at him incredulously, "How the hell did you manage to do that?"

Kaidan grinned smugly, "You may not have read much Sun Tzu. 'Appear weak when you are strong.' I let you believe you had the upperhand, and then quickly slapped you across the face to awaken you to the fact that I was indeed winning. You never saw me coming. That, and I may have had an unfair advantage; the element zero content in my body is strong enough that it has weaved my muscles and made them stronger than a normal human male; while other males have to work and exercise to get their strength and muscle, I get mine simply by being exposed to Element Zero. But I'm just the lucky one."

"I guess the commander has the same thing," Jacob pointed out, smirking at his CO, "Right, Shepard?"

This time, Tali restrained herself, as did Hannah, and Marcus smiled, "I do. And now its timed by a hundred now that I'm loaded with cybernetics. I could probably beat Wrex in an arm wrestle, if I wanted to. Hell, maybe even Leg-a geth."

Kal cracked up at that one, trying to divert attention away from Marcus' slip up, which he was grateful for. He couldn't reveal Legion's existence to the quarian's just yet; they weren't ready.

He leaned back and smiled at Tali, who just smiled back.

"Mrs. Shepard," Marcus teased, "How are you enjoying your morning?"

Tali grinned and joined in, "Quite alot, Mr. Shepard," she reciprocated, "It has turned into quite an enjoyable morning."

Indeed it had.

**{Loading...}**

_November 7, 2185_

_1142 hours._

_The Arena, Liveship Rayya, Migrant Fleet, Enoch System, Rosetta Nebula._

_Commander Marcus Lee Shepard, Chief Engineer Tali'Shepard vas Normandy, Admiral Shala'Raan vas Tonbay, Admiral Han'Gerrel vas Neema, Admiral Zaal'Koris vas Qwib Qwib, Gunnery Master Garrus Vakarian, Master Thief Kasumi Goto, Chieftain Urdnot Wrex, Flight Lieutenant Jeff 'Joker' Moreau, Captain Hannah Rila Shepard, Councilor David Edward Anderson, Professor Mordin Solus, Senior Assistant Lia'Vael nar Ulnay, Staff Commander Kaidan Alenko, Major General Kal'Reegar vas Normandy, First Lieutenant Madi'Soi vas Ceresa, First Lieutenant Jacob Taylor, Justicar Samara, Medical Chief Karin Chakwas, Subject Zero Jack, Power Engineer Kenneth Donnelly, Propulsion Engineer Gabriella Daniels, Mess Sergeant Rupert Gardner, Yeoman Kelly Chambers, Navigator Veetor'Nara vas Rayya, Medical Chief Elan'Shiya vas Rayya, Captain Qet'Danna vas Rayya._

The morning went on at some length, with the laughter dying down and people going into seperate corners to talk. Shala and Hannah had left their seats and had left the room; most likely exchanging baby photos and sharing embarassing moments, much to Marcus' fears. He had alot of those, and he feared that Shala would relay them to Tali. Garrus had caught Kasumi eventually, and in reward, Kasumi had locked her legs around his waist and kissed him for longer than usual, before they broke apart and Kasumi had disappeared again, only to start annoying Jacob by tapping him on the shoulder repeatedly.

Mordin was exgaged in conversation with Elan and Veetor, but mostly the former, and Marcus swore he had heard the salarian singing his favourite piece, Gilbert and Sullivan, to them at one point, the salarian seeming always get so into it; when he did, he noticed, Mordin even seemed to dance to it, he was that into it. He had watched Lia watch from afar, laughing as she sipped at her drink.

Garrus and Kaidan had gotten into deep converse with Anderson, who either alternated between talking about the Reapers, to war stories, and eventually to kill ratios, to which Garrus and Kaidan were surprised that both of their kill counts,  _combined,_ still couldn't match Anderson's; the councilor not taking smug pride in it like they did, but managing to give a smile at their expense; the N7 operative was no fan of war and he took no joy in it, but he did it for their sake.

Marcus and Tali had split occassionally to either gather food or talk with other people. But they mostly stayed huddled together; hugging each other for the majority of the feast. It still felt new to them; being married, husband and wife...it was so different, such a change in life style. They were bonded to each other, had a duty to protect each other, which was no different from usual, and they now had the markings and rings to prove it. They truly were a Union of One.

And to Marcus' absolute deepest nightmare, music began to play over the PA system; loud, upbeat dance music; the kind that demanded hyper active dance moves. The music was so loud and sudden that it caused alot of people to almost dive for cover and Joker had cried out, 'Shit! Reapers!' at the start, as the opening crescendo did sound like a Reaper horn, only for the pilot to calm down as the music began in full uproar.

Jack was the first to leap onto stage, but she didn't partake in the dancing. She raced over to the podium where the music was being played and almost shoved the poor quarian aside in her rush to assume control, "Move over, pussy! Its time to play some real fucking music!"

The music somehow got even louder (if that was even possible) and became faster and more dubstepish, and Jack cried in agreement, "Now this is more like it! Get up you lazy fuckers and let's DANCE!"

To everyone's immense surprise, Kelly was the first to jump onto the dance floor, throwing her hands in the air as she threw her hips from side to side to the beat of the music. She had a massive smile on her face, urging everyone else to join in. And that was all that was needed; Gabby quickly joined in, with Ken too drunk from scotch to coherently think, herself and Kelly slapping hands together as they cried out 'woooo!' obviously influenced by the alcohol, the two of them locked arms and began dancing in circles, giggling and laughing as they did.

Many quarians quickly followed, as did...Samara? And as the justicar moved onto the stage and began dancing, Marcus was surprised to see her body flow and move to the beat so well and perfectly. She was like moving water; graceful, perfect and flawless. It took him a moment to realize that Samara had once been an avid dancer and mercenary in her maiden years, leading to her abilities to dance so well; it was an inherent trait for all asari.

Wrex, to noone's surprise, refused to join in, simply watching from far away. Hannah didn't join in either, and neither did Anderson, or Gerrel, Shala or Koris. Mordin continued to talk with Elan and Veetor, but Lia quickly joined in on the dance floor, letting her body just do what it wants as she flowed to the beat, too happy to care about how she looked; but it was obvious that it was either just quarian females, or all quarians. But either way, it was obvious that they were naturals at dancing.

Everyone had practically joined in by this point and Kasumi's voice quickly roared above the music.

"Come come, Garbear!" the thief shouted, "It is time for your dancing lessons!"

Practically having to drag the poor turian onto stage, Kasumi began to move her body to her own rhythm instead of following the beat, steadily allowing her body to catch up. Garrus just awkwardly stood there, but quickly began to flail his body around like a moron when Kasumi elbowed him in the ribs, giving him a glare that said 'start dancing or I'll break one your mandibles, or both.' Garrus looked like an idiot, but at least Kasumi was satisfied.

And to his ever lasting dread, Tali's hand began to tug at his shoulder, urging him to the stage.

He groaned, placing his drink down on the table as he stood up, "Come on Tali, you know I can't dance! I'm horrible at it! People laugh when my name is merely in the same sentence as the word dance. They are two terms that shall forever never be synonymous."

The quarian rolled her eyes at his dramatization of the subject, pulling him further towards the floor despite his protests, "You'll dance with your wife, as is your duty as a husband! Now come on, Garrus is dancing with Kasumi!"

"Yes, but he has some skill..." Marcus tried to summon a justifiable excuse as they passed Wrex, Marcus pleading the krogan to help, but only got a chuckle in response as his quarian mate continued to drag him to the guillotine.

Tali whorled on him and almost broke out laughing, "Skill? Look at him!" she pointed for emphasis, "He looks like he's drowning!"

"I heard that!" Garrus responded, "And for the record, that's not how turians drown! Its alot more spastic!"

"You see!?" Tali responded, "You're dancing with me and that's final; your humility be damned."

Marcus pouted, "My wife is evil. I want a divorce," he joked.

Tali grinned, "Oh no you don't; you're  _not_ divorcing me, Mr. Shepard. I'm your wife forever, so you'll just have to deal with me."

By the time she finished they were in the middle of the dance floor, people dancing all around them in numerous different ways. Even Joker had taken apart, although his movements were more deliberate and slowed down, so not to risk breaking any bones. Even Chakwas had taken to joining in, dancing alongside Qet'Danna. Tali just looked at him and winked.

"Follow my lead," Tali urged.

And like water, she  _flowed_ , memories from two years ago in the Port Hanshan Hotel coming to life in his mind. Her own hands graced down her form as she performed a quarian feminine dance; feet moving across the floor as her arms swiped through the air like the dance of a medieval warrior, her eyes narrowed and hips swinging back and forth almost seductively. Her body was graceful, and he knew right then and there that all quarian females were undeniably  _sexy_ dancers.

She noticed him oggling her and grinned behind her mask, "Like what you see, Mr. Shepard? Appreciating the eye candy?"

Marcus frowned at her, "How do you know that human term?"

She suddenly found herself blushing, "Research," she quickly dropped the subject and switched back to her previous one though, "You know, you might be lucky enough for a kiss. Maybe even a little more..." she licked her lips behind her mask seductively, cursing herself for even bothering, as he couldn't even see it, but she knew he got her meaning, "...but only if you start dancing.  _Impress me_." The last words that rolled off her tongue were sugar-coated; his eyes widened at how sexy she could make two words sound.

 _Damn you woman._ He felt blood flow to his crotch, but quickly ignored it, making sure to divert the flow to other parts of his body as he began to move, trying to mimick the dance moves he had seen on a movie his mother used to watch when he was still in primary school. He hoped he could remember most of it.

He still couldn't dance worth a damn, but he looked a whole lot better; tap dancing was difficult, but Marcus managed to mimick it well enough and he quickly moved to Tali's side, hands landing on her hips as she began to guide her across the dance floor, spinning her around as she giggled. They both repeated this action for a bit before stopping, almost falling off the floor; they were that dizzy.

When they were finished, he placed her back on the ground, and they both laughed, Marcus placing a kiss on the top of her hood before she retracted, nodding behind her helmet.

"Not bad sir. Not bad indeed," Tali replied, "Could do with a polish, but you've earned a kiss."

"Just a kiss?" A devillish grin crossed his features.

She leaned forward, whispering into his ear, "If you manage to seduce me well enough later on, maybe I'll suddenly feel alittle bit into something...more."

He grinned, "You're on."

Someone must have finally liberated the controls from Jack, because suddenly the music stopped and Hannah came to the controls, smiling as she did. Everyone looked at her, almost scared. Finally, she spoke.

"Its time to turn to music appropriate for a wedding," Jack groaned to Hannah's right, but a glare shut her up, and the alliance captain turned back to the room, "Time for something more...calm. More...romantic."

Everyone frowned at Hannah, not knowing quite what she had in mind, but they quickly got an idea as slow, quiet music began to play through the speakers; distinctly slow piano. It was calming and relaxing, and was just loud enough for everyone to hear. Marcus knew what Hannah had in mind, and silenty thanked her. He turned to Tali, offering his hand in a gentlemanly fashion, a smile on his face.

"Will you dance with me, Mrs. Shepard?"

Tali frowned at him, crossing her arms, "I thought you said you couldn't dance?"

"I could slow dance just fine Tali," his hand stayed in offer position and after a moment, Tali let out a laugh and took it, letting him pull her in as his left hand went around to the small of her back and squeezed her there, holding her rightly. His right hand took hers and rose it up to the side, holding it there and showing the large contrast between their three and five fingers mixed together. She eyed him with a smile and they began to slowly move about the dance floor, calmly moving to the pace of the music; rocking them from side to side.

The whole almost went silent as people danced; Marcus was surprised to see Kasumi and Garrus slow dancing, with the turian obviously being very inexperienced at it, but he was learning. Even Anderson, being the gentleman, had taken Hannah's offer of a dance and were now quietly slow dancing on the floor, looking each other in the eyes as if they were married themselves, despite not loving each other.

Many people had migrated from the dance floor and only the lovers remained, aside from Hannah and Anderson of course. But Marcus and Tali didn't care; they focused on each other, and as they moved, he could see Tali struggling not to fall asleep; his lulling movements and rocking actions almost putting her to sleep. He smiled at that; his adorable wife.

He leaned forward and kissed her on the visor, both of them enjoying the moment, "I love you Tali," he whispered, "From this day forward, and forever."

This time, he knew she was smiling, "I love you too Marcus. Keelah Se'lai."

The morning carried on just like that; calm slow dancing.

They loved every moment of it.

**{Loading...}**

_November 7, 2185_

_1409 hours._

_The Shepards' Quarters, Normandy-Class Stealth Frigate Normandy SR-2, Docked with the Rayya._

_Commander Marcus Lee Shepard, Chief Engineer Tali'Shepard vas Normandy._

The elevator went agonizingly slow for both of them; Tali still wearing her wedding suit and tucked comfortably under Marcus' chin where he held her. The wedding party was still at full blast, but for the two of them, they had decided to call it quits. They had snuck out and were now on the empty Normandy; empty except for Legion in the AI Core and Joker who had decided he had spent far too long away from his 'baby.'

Apart from EDI, Joker and Legion, noone knew they were on the ship, and it would stay that way; EDI was even explicit instructions that noone was to interrupt them, and the AI was determined to make sure she followed those orders to the letter. And with smiles on their faces, they had entered the elevator and ascended into what was now the 'The Shepard' home.

The elevator finally arrived on the top deck and Tali stepped out first, moving into the antechamber. She stretched her back, arms and legs, waiting for a satisfying pop before sighing in relief, content with the relief in her body's tenseness. She moved to turn towards Marcus, who hadn't seemed to follow yet.

"It feels so good too-" Tali didn't get to finish that sentence.

She yelled out and then squealed as Marcus lifted her from the ground and lifted her into his arms; she practically had to wrap one arm around the back of his neck on instinct. Her head leaned on his chest and she glared up at him, but he only smiled as he began moving towards the cabin door.

"I can walk perfectly fine!" Tali insisted.

He laughed, reaching the door. EDI didn't need prompting; the haptic interface began to cycle and the AI's voice rang out as she announced the beginning of decontamination procedures. Marcus responded, "Haven't you heard? Its a human tradition for a husband to carry his newly wed wife past the threshold into their home."

Tali's glare turned into a smirk and she slapped his chest, "Could have told me that before you gave me a heart attack, bosh'tet."

He chuckled, "Then there wouldn't have been a surprise, would there?"

Before she could answer with another smartass retort, the door shot open and Marcus continued inside, still carrying his wife, Tali almost giggling at the line across the middle of his forehead; one he didn't seem to mind. It was a symbol to all that he was taken; that he belonged to  _her_. She was his, and he was hers.

"Welcome home, Mrs. Shepard," Marcus announced, stepping into the cabin as he lowered Tali onto the floor, her feet meeting solid ground. She landed softly, the door closing behind them. With a sigh of relief, Tali twisted her neck to stretch it and once finished, walked over to Marcus' desk and unlatched her mask, placing it firmly on the desk top. Without a synthesized voice, she sighed pleasantly; glad to finally have the mask off once more.

Suddenly, two large arms surrounded her hugging her back to the front of her husband's body and he placed his chin on her right shoulder, sighing. Tali remembered the promise she had given him and gave a sultry smile, twisting in his arms until she faced him, looking into his eyes, the same smile on her face.

"You wanted your kiss?" Tali asked.

The commander merely chuckled and followed her statement by leaning in, cradling her head with one hand as he wrapped both his lips over Tali's upper lip, the quarian in question moaning with delight into the kiss. She leaned into it and split apart from him just so she could take control of the kiss, which enveloped both of his lips with hers. They both moaned this time, and the kiss quickly escalated; Marcus placing his hands under Tali's thighs and lifting her up and onto the desk, where her legs proceeded to wrap around his waist and her hands ruffled through his hair as they continued to kiss. Eventually, mouths opened and tongues danced inside, adding to the moans of pleasure.

Tali felt heat build inside her core, a need making itself known. It wasn't long before she knew of Marcus' need as well; she felt his groin bump against the suit where her womanhood was covered and they both stopped kissing for a second, and looked down. Marcus blushed and so did Tali, both of them looking into each other's eyes.

They asked the same question: should we?

The answer was given: Yes.

No more words were exchanged as they locked lips again, this time their hands taking a much more active role. Marcus' groin began to grind against Tali as they moved to get a better reach, and it took its tole on Tali, to the point where she amost snarled in desperation to get Marcus' suit off. Eyes closed, she began to subconsciously undo all the buttons on his suit while he fiddled with the straps on the back of hers, another hand fiddling with a belt strap around her waist.

She finally unbuttoned his suit and began to tug at it while Marcus succeeded in removing her belt strap, the long skirt of her wedding suit falling to the ground in a heap. Marcus ceased his movements, allowing Tali to remove his suit and toss it across the romm without ripping it. His singlet soon followed, allowing her hands to once again glide over his naked torso, breaking from the kiss long enough to admire his abs.  _They still never cease to impress me...Kasumi must be jealous..._

With his suit removed, Marcus leaned back in, but instead of lips locking with lips, his mouth latched around her neck, kissing her all over the nape. She moaned in euphoric passion as she craned her neck upwards to give him better access, closing her eyes to savor the feel of his lips on her throat. While he did this, he worked at the straps of her suit and she assisted him, while trying to ignore the drunken feeling of his mouth covering her skin.

After a bit of pulling and tugging, Marcus finally removed Tali from her suit, the appendage landing under the desk followed by the leggings, boots and boot knife sheath. Naked and completely revealed to him, she pounced on him, raven black hair falling in droves as she passionately kissed him, her legs locked around his waist as he carried her down towards the bed.

They never made it however as Tali suddenly pushed forward and they fell into the lone red chair sitting next to Marcus' sofa, which ironically was named the 'love seat.' He landed in the seat, with Tali ontop of him and in his lap, his hands groping her buttocks and squeezing as she yelped into his mouth, causing him to grin.

Finally, they broke for air and simply looked at each other, the passion and lust of the moment gone for a moment as they just looked into each other, one hand on each other's cheek, cradling it. They tried to convey as much emotion as they could into their eyes in that one moment.

"I love you Tali," Marcus declared, smiling warmly at her; a loving smile he saved only for her.

She smiled right back, thumb stroking his cheek, "I love you too, Marcus. Lets forget about everything today; lets stay in here, just us, for the whole day and just spend as much time with each other as possible. Lock the door and let us make love as much as we want, kiss as much as we want, and shower as we wish. Talk, cuddle and caress; let's just celebrate our union as husband and wife; no Reapers to worry about, no Shadow Broker to look for."

He smiled back, pulling the hair out of her face, "That sounds nice; I'd like that. Just us," he leaned in, "Noone else." And with that, the distance was closed and they locked lips once more.

They stayed like that for a moment before Tali parted, leaping off of him to get at his belt buckle. She hastily unlatched it, hand constantly bumping against his erection. She pulled his pants off and tossed them away, followed by his boxers, leaving them both completely naked.

She caressed his manhood slightly and slowly, with a caressing, loving touch. But that touch quickly turned into lust, and her movements sped up. Marcus moaned with pleasure and knowing what she wanted to do, Tali let go of his hardened cock and stood up, moving to straddle him in the chair once more.

She positioned one leg on either side of the seat and directed her womanhood to hover directly over his manhood. She wanted him, but she always thought of his needs first; that's what made him love her so much. She waited, looking at him hesitantly.

He smiled at her, and placed both of his hands firmly on her hips, grasping them tightly, "I want this, Tali. You want this."

She nodded and with her permission, he pulled her down and he quickly entered her. There was no gasp of shock like the first couple of times; just a grunt as Tali positioned herself comfortably, Marcus' erect organ no longer visible as it filled Tali completely. She placed one hand after the other on both of his shoulders, inhaled and then exhaled. She cooed as he took part of her bosom into his mouth, teasing the nipple with his tongue. And as he did this, Tali began her rhythm, bringing herself up before letting herself drop again, moaning as she did. To help her; the next time she pulled herself up, he thrusted upwards and into her as she came down, adding extra pleasure. They continued this, the sex becoming more heated as it went along.

Two lovers making love in the shadow of horrors.

Two lovers, husband and wife, becoming a true Union of One.

**"I can't tell you how ecstatic I was for our honeymoon. Oh keelah."**

**\- Tali'Shepard pav Rannoch.**

**"You don't have to. I saw it. A pity we only got three days to ourselves before reality kicked us in the ass..."**

**\- Marcus Shepard.**

_**A/N:** _

_**HOLY SHIT THIS CHAPTER WAS LONG. I can't stress enough how overboard I went with this chapter, but it felt like it was worth it. What do you think? I don't herald myself as being great at fluff, but what's your honest opinion? Did I do okay or bad? Awful or bloody awesome? Tell me in the review section.** _

_**Don't let all this euphoria deceive you. Dark times lie ahead for the Shepards and the Normandy crew...pretty soon, their joy will turn into ashes in their mouth...oh dammit, now I'm quoting Game of Thrones. Damn you guys.** _


	25. Honeymoon Shakedown

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Shepard and Tali try to enjoy their honeymoon. The Broker takes advantage of their vulnerability and attacks.

**REQUIEM**

**CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR:**

**HONEYMOON SHAKEDOWN**

_November 7, 2185_

_1819 hours._

_The Shepards' Quarters, Normandy-Class Stealth Frigate Normandy SR-2, Docked with the Rayya._

_Commander Marcus Lee Shepard, Chief Engineer Tali'Shepard vas Normandy._

Hot water flowed over his body like a jet of liberation; the warmth freeing up tense muscles and giving him a relief like no other. Water impacted off the bathroom walls and flooded the bottom of the floor in crystal clear wet, but he didn't care. White foam bubbled and frothed as he washed his hair, barely moving an inch from the spot he was rooted on as he just let the shower's water consume him.

He thought of the day's past events; and as he did, a hand travelled up to his forehead, caressing the area that the line of ink occupied. He smiled. It had only been...how many hours? At least nine hours since he got married to the woman he loved. The feast had ended a couple of hours ago and the crew had dispersed, with a few people staying behind to clean up the aftermath. But the entire time, Marcus and Tali had never left the cabin, the quarian walking around completely free of her suit, and EDI had made sure that noone disturbed them.

All day, they had either lay in bed, cuddling and talking about past events, danced or watched movies; Marcus deciding to introduce her to the Marvel movies, starting with Iron Man, a movie she had taken a particular liking to. They made love several times, and done almost nothing else since. It was heaven.

The last time they had made love was little over an hour ago, and Marcus was prepared incase Tali got alittle...needy. He smiled at his own thoughts, but quickly brushed them away as he finished washing his hair and moved to turn off the shower itself. Just as he moved to do this however, the door shot open and his wife moved into the doorway, a devillish grin covering her mouth.

He turned towards her, and grinned. She stood there, one arm leading against the doorway while her hips leaned to the otherside with one hand on said hip in a seductive pose. She grinned at him, flexing one of her toes as she wore a purple nightgown Kelly had acquired for her, which took only a few tugs to take off.

He was having trouble getting used to seeing the third line down the center of her forehead, but kept reminding himself that it was a symbol of their union; their marriage. The aftermath carried heavily on both of them, and they knew it would take some time getting used to their new titles and their position together. But they were both more than willing.

She spoke in her best sultry tone, "Mind if I join you?"

His grin didn't get any smaller, "Of course."

Neither did hers as she stood up fully and her hands pulled at the cotton ribbon holding her gown together. Tossing it out of sight she pulled the nightgown, revealing a lack of clothing beneath. In the nude, she tossed the gown inside and stepped into the bathroom with him, joining her husband under the hot water.

She sighed happily as her long hair became soggy instantly and latched to her skin, the quarian closing her eyes. The ink provided was strong, so it didn't wash off, which was an added bonus for them; it served as permanent tattoo. Using both of her hands, she pushed her hair out of her face and pressed into his chest, Marcus relishing in the sensation of her bosom pressing up against his pectorals, and her face inches from his.

She smiled as she opened her eyes to meet his, the flash of her ring easily seen in his peripheral vision. He took her ring hand and caressed it, bringing it to his lips and kissing the palm. Her grin turned into a loving smile, her voice a whisper, "Hard to forget that we're now officially together; oath, praise and banner."

He chuckled, "Indeed; can't complain with the results though."

She nodded in agreement, pressing further against him, kissing his neck as she tucked herself under his chin. Quickly, his hand let go of her hand and up to her back of her head, getting deliberately tangled in her long raven hair as she stroked the back of her own neck, both of them just letting the water wash over them in blissful silence.

Slowly, and gradually, Tali's hands raised up and placed themselves on his shoulders, the quarian pulling away, keeping her chest firmly pressed against his. He frowned at her as she gave him a sultry smirk, not taking her eyes off of him. Getting curious as to her intentions, he spoke, "Mrs. Shepard, just what are you doing?"

"Oh," she began, one hand lifting off his shoulder and tracing a line down the left of his body, all the way down to his hips, "I don't know," she continued, hand lifting off his body and moving inbetween them. A heat built between them, "I'm feeling alittle...bored," her three-fingered hand quickly found his limp manhood and grabbed it, "Maybe we should have some fun, what do you say?" Marcus' manhood almost immediately became erect as she began to slowly stroke it, the man's breaths becoming shorter and labored as he tried not to moan loudly at the sudden sensations she was giving him.

"Al-a-alrea-d-d-d-y?" He stuttered, trying to delay the inevitable pleasure and tease her, "Y-yo-u're-q-qu-quite e-ager, aren't y-y-y-you?"

She could only smile as her stroking actions increased and she began to lean down into a crouch, "What can I say? Getting married makes me...alittle bit more eager. What about you?"

He nodded, watch as her head became level with his manhood and he realized what she was about to do, "I-in-c-c-compl-ete agree-agree...agree..." he didn't get to finish due to Tali roughly cutting him off at 'in' as she navigated his cock into her open mouth, and she began to suck. The rest was moaning as he let his hand find its way around to the back of his wife's head, and held on as he gently urged her on. Moaning came from both parties as Tali continued, the quarian occassionally opening her mouth to get so breath, lick the tip, smile at him or ask if she should continue, and then do just that...continue.

Keeping it short and simple so he doesn't climax too early, Tali released him and stood up, licking her lips. She smiled at him, grabbing some antibacterial soap, wiping her lips and then putting it away, almost dropping it as Marcus reached and began to kiss her softly, the quarian moaning as she only just managed to successfully put the soap away. Her hands latched around his head and held him there, the kiss growing in tension before it turned into pure, unhinged lust.

Marcus pushed forward and Tali's back collided with the wall, his erection smacking against her stomach. Still stroking it, Tali continued to kiss her husband before lust began to overcome the passion; when they first made love this day, it had been full of love, but as they went on, lust gradually took over; and this was the breaking point.

Marcus pulled away from Tali's lips and took one full breast into his mouth, Tali cooing in delight as he did and cradling his head as he tended to her larger-than-depicted bosom. Eventually, he pulled away and Marcus leaned down, his head coming to level with Tali's womanhood. She smiled at the thought of what was to come and barely had any time to prepare before he stretched her lips wide open and plunged his mouth inside, tongue going to work as it explored her insides, the quarian moaning as she cradled his head in a similiar fashion to what she did with him.

The sexual tension occurring beforehand and the tending her breasts got made sure that Tali's orgasm came quickly and euphorically, almost blinding her in its intensity as she emptied into Marcus' mouth. When it was over, Marcus repeated the same action she did; antibacterial soap, wash lips, put away, kiss.

This one was short and tender as Marcus proceeded to pull away, grabbing Tali by the hips and quickly turning her around so she faced the wall, her back facing him. He pressed her against the wall, her cheek against the cold surface as he leaned in and began trailing kisses down the line of her back, making her hum in content. After a bit, he stopped at the area just above her posterior, and lifted himself, pressing his chest into her back as he leaned in and kissed her on the neck.

Despite the lust, he still had the love and care to ask, "Ready?" he asked, breathing heavy. She nodded erratically, eagerly wanting him. He sighed and pulled back, opening her legs slightly as he positioned his manhood at her entrance. And without further hesitation, he pushed forward and penetrated her, both of them crying out in ecstasy as the water became cold, still rushing over their skin; but they were too heated to care or notice.

He pulled her slightly away from the wall, the quarian using her hands to brace herself against the wall as her body almost went horizontal; Marcus using his left hand to clasp around her left hip and his right to gently grasp her right shoulder. His cock still throbbing inside her, she nodded and he continued. He pulled out and back in, out and in, out and in, thrust after thrust, moan after moan.

It wasn't long before he came; a familiar warmth flooding inside of her as she gave a low moan of ecstasy. Marcus allowed himself to completely empty his seed into her before pulling out, Tali turned around just as he crashed forward, chest pushing against hers as he leaned his chin on her left shoulder, Tali caressing the back of his head as they breathed heavily in and out.

Quiet. Total silence.

Marcus finally, after two minutes of doing nothing, reached out and turned off the shower, the water ceasing its pitter-patter on the bathroom floor. The silence returned once more as little pecks on the lips were exchanged.

More silence.

Finally, Tali spoke, "You know...we really need to...find something else...better to do."

Marcus laughed, kissing her bare shoulder as he pulled back and looked into her eyes, "Damn right we do," a thought occurred in his head, "And there's a thing we humans do just after getting married. We go out for a week, just us, rent a temporary hotel suite and we do whatever we want; and like I said, its just us. You and me, noone else. And there's no last minute things we need to worry about; no enemies trying to kill us."

Tali smiled, "And what do humans call that? Because I like the sound of it more and more," she gave him a peck on the lips to urge him on.

He smiled back, "We call it a honeymoon. What do you think honey? Would you like to go on a honeymoon? Just the two of us? None of the worries of the future to plague our thoughts?"

She smiled and thought about this for a couple of moments, before finally responding, "I would...I would like that, Marcus. Just us. What place do you have in mind?"

Marcus pretended to think on this for a bit, before finally turning back to her, a loving, caring smile creasing his wet lips, "Nos Astra, Illium. There's this one hotel I remember in the catalogue that is top of its class, and you are definitely a girl deserving top class."

His wife frowned, "I don't know, Marcus. Seems awfully expensive-"

"For my gorgeous wife?" He smiled, "We just got married Tali; we deserve to love every second of it. As far as I'm concerned, it isn't expensive enough."

The only response he got was a gentle, gender suck on the lips as Tali leaned in, a warm show of contentment on her face. Marcus smiled and moved in to kiss her with extra fervor, but was interrupted as EDI spoke over the comm.

"Shepards, I apologize for the interruption," EDI spoke, suffering through Tali and Marcus' irritated groans and annoyed glares, "But Liara's pickup team has just returned from Illium, but have declared a medical emergency."

In a flash, both Marcus' and Tali's annoyed glares disappeared and Marcus was off of her, getting a towel from the dry rack and beginning to dry himself off as he left the cubicle, Tali left to recover her own towel as she also dried herself off. Marcus was quick to demand answers.

"Medical emergency?" he asked, "I thought it was a simple pickup? How could the Broker know? Who's hurt? Status?"

EDI was just as quick to provide answers, not hesitating for one moment as Marcus finished drying himself off and began to put on his clothes, starting with his boxers, "XO Lawson is in critical condition; she is currently comatose and Doctor Chakwas is rushing her to the medical bay; Professor Solus and Senior Assistant Vael have been informed, but her condition is fragile. Liara has suffered a broken arm and has also gone to the medical bay, and has required your presence to speak with you about the mission. Grunt has suffered minor injuries and Thane has but lashes, but nothing serious."

Marcus scoffed as he finished buckling up his pants and reached for a shirt, "Not serious? I think a coma and a broken arm classify as serious. What the hell happened? We weren't expecting them until tomorrow."

EDI's voice was instant, "Doctor T'Soni has stated she will explain everything to you in the medical bay; I have been told of nothing else. All she said is that the Shadow Broker is involved."

He sighed, turning to Tali who had come out of the shower dried and was now putting her robe back on. He gave her an apologetic look before approaching and giving her a gentle, tender kiss on the lips, cradling her cheek as he pulled away, "I'll be back soon sweetheart," with that, he turned and put his shirt on, followed by his cap as he unlocked his cabin door and entered the elevator, slamming the button for the Crew Deck. As the elevator began its descent, he let out an angry growl.

_Miranda comatose? Liara with a broken arm? Thane injured, along with Grunt? What the hell happened to the simple 'snatch-and-grab?' How the fuck did it turn this serious? That, and she turns up early? What the hell is going on? If the Shadow Broker is involved...goddamn it, I should have told her to stay and wait until after the wedding...we don't need another Zaeed..._

The elevator took a while to finally reach the third deck, and when it did, the doors shot open with double the speed. Within a heartbeat, Marcus was moving through the doors and had rounded the corner, moving towards the med bay. Grunt stood outside, orange blood crusted at his lip, and upon seeing his battlemaster approaching, he smiled.

"Battlemaster!" Grunt boomed, "Glad to see you're here. Asari told me not to tell you anything; only to usher you in."

He nodded to the krogan in appreciation before tapping the haptic interface for the door and moving inside, finding the room to be a bustle of activity. Liara sat on the end of one bed, her arm in a omni-cast and looking to be extremely uncomfortable. Thane sat on the bed next to her, Lia tending to him with bandages. And to the left, Marcus saw it. It was a pretty gruesome sight.

Miranda looked worse than Zaeed had. Sure, the man had taken a gunshot to the head twice, and riddled with bullets over the rest, but he hadn't broken both legs to a pulp, crushed the bone in his left wrist, blown open his lower lip and didn't have a failed kidney and a possible hemorrphage, if the readouts were anything to go by. She was running solely on life support at this point, and she wasn't even wearing her uniform; no, that was sitting in a mangled pile on the med bay floor as she was covered in a blanket, most likely completely naked underneath.

Upon his entrance, Mordin heard him enter and turned to greet him, only to have Chakwas yell at him to keep Miranda stabilized while she spoke to the commander. Liara noticed him as well and raised a hand to speak to him, but was shot down by his glare as he turned to speak to Doctor Chakwas, the doctor's face creased in worry and specks of blood running down her cheek from intense surgery, surgical mask on.

She took it off for a second, letting it hang around her neck, "Have you come to check up on Miss Lawson, Marcus?"

He nodded, crossing his arms as he traded glances between Chakwas and Miranda's slumbering form, "That and something else," he nodded to Liara before turning back to her, "How is she, doctor?"

"Bad. Worse off than Zaeed, and that's saying something," Chakwas jabbed a finger at the poor woman, "Her recovery isn't going to be a fast one, and I used up most of my resources just keeping Zaeed from bleeding out. Now we've got Miranda with enough shattered bones to kill a regular human being, and I don't have the supplies to save her."

His eyes widened in shock, "What does that mean for Miranda?"

"What will happen?" She sighed and never had she looked as tired as she did at that moment, "Well, if the internal hemorrphage doesn't kill her first, then the crushed bones will. Bits of bone have fallen off and are causing serious damage to her muscle which is causing more internal bleeding; we need to cauterize the wound or she won't make it. Something we don't have the facilities to do. Only option is a hospital; they can give her all the care she needs, and asari hospitals have always been the best when it comes to human physiology and overall medical technology."

Marcus nodded, hitting a realization as a smile came to his face, "What a coincidence; asari can save him, and what colony is nearby that is full of asari?"

Chakwas smiled as well, "Illium; they'll have the resources we need. We'll have to take Miranda to Nos Astra City Hospital if we want to save her, Marcus."

He nodded, accessing EDI's pedestal, "EDI? Could you relay to Joker to set a course for Illium immediately? And have Jacob prep the shuttle for medical transport; we'll need it soon. We'll need it for one comatose patient plus two others."

EDI was quick to respond, "Message received. Setting a course."

He nodded, turning to talk to Liara, but Chakwas placed a hand on his chest, stopping him. He frowned, turning towards Chakwas. She, in turn, frowned at him, obviously confused, "Plus two? Who else is going?"

His frown turned into a smile of realization and he nodded, shrugging Chakwas' hand off his chest, "Me and Tali; we've chosen to have our honeymoon on Illium and were planning to go before this happened."

Chakwas nodded, "I understand; I hope you two have fun. Miranda won't be awake in a week though; if I'm honest, I don't know when she'll wake up. She might never; we just don't know. Her life will be in Nos Astra's nurses' and doctors' hands. We'll just have to hope for the best."

He nodded to her, gently squeezing her shoulder, "Thank you Chakwas. You did all you could."

She gave her own nod before pulling up her surgical mask back over her mouth and returning to Miranda's side, while Marcus headed over to Liara, who was waiting for him with a scolded look. He crossed his arms once he reached her, anger in his eyes, "What the fuck happened Liara?" he asked in a soft tone so only the asari and Thane could hear, "I'm with my wife, and the next thing I hear is that Miranda is borderline dead and the other three have injuries? Explain, now. I want to know  _exactly_ what happened and how the Broker got involved."

Liara nodded, taking a deep breath before responding, "It happened extremely fast, Shepard, I don't know how to explain this to you. We went there to pick up the data disk from Sekat, and everything was going alright at first; but then he asked me if the Broker wouldn't find out about the transaction. I reassured him, and then...he betrayed us."

He raised an eyebrow, "He what? I thought you said he was reliable, Liara."

"Yeah, well I thought so too!" Liara replied angrily, looking at him with fury in his look. He barely flinched from the action and she calmed down, wiping the scowl from her face before inhaling and exhaling. Finally calmed down, she turned back to him, "We...he betrayed us, and the next thing I know, we have the Shadow Broker's private soldiers attacking us from behind. Apparently Sekat hadn't defected afterall; he was working for the Broker all along and was luring me in so he could take me out, once and for all. He just didn't expect backup; which explains why Sekat looked so terrified."

He nodded for her to go on, and she did, "Sekat tried to escape with the disk, but Grunt rammed him through the window and crushed him below. I went after him while Miranda and Thane took the long way down while fighting more of those damn mercs. They reached us eventually, but we...security tried to stop us. I retrieved the data disk," her uninjured hand reached into one of her pockets and pulled out the red flashing object and waved it in the air, "But it seems the Shadow Broker already had a continegency plan in action."

"I don't see the part that involves a broken arm, slashes and a comatose patient," he growled and Liara once again shot him a scowl, which she wiped away as quickly as before and finished her sentence.

"Yeah, well like I said, he had a continegency plan," her eyes met his, and he saw the hate in them, not for him, but for the Broker, "Bombs. He...he had his loyal, skilled thugs rig the entire building with explosives and detonated them when his troops failed to take us out. Miranda pushed me out of the way when the explosion reached us. I woke up two hours later with a broken arm, and buried under rubble. I managed to free myself, and found Grunt, who had already woken up and gotten Thane out."

"Miranda..." she trailed off, swallowing, "We found her under two concrete slabs, one of them pinning her left wrist to the ground. We couldn't tell the extent of the damage, but we knew it was serious and that we had to get her back to the Normandy as soon as possible. I should have taken her straight to the hospital...I was so foolish...all I could think of was the data..."

Thane was at her side, a reassuring pat on her shoulder, and she quickly faced the drell, who gave her a piercing, calm gaze, "You have done the right thing, and Kalahira smiles upon you. If you had not extracted the data, and Miranda died, her death would have meant nothing. This way, if she does die, we got the information and are able to put an end to the Shadow Broker, making her death mean something. It was not in vain."

Liara smiled at him and nodded, and the drell lifted his hand off the asari as he leapt from the bed, giving a nod of thanks to Lia, "Thank you, Miss Vael. If I am free to leave, I believe I have congratulations to pass on to...Mrs. Shepard."

Lia nodded, "You're free to go; do try and keep it easy though, those wounds need time to heal. Broken arm is different; technology allows for fast healing, but those need proper healing. Remember that."

"I will doctor, thank you," Thane nodded his thanks and Lia nodded, moving over to assist Chakwas and Mordin with Miranda. Thane turned to Marcus and smiled, bowing, "Congratulations on your bonding to Tali'Shepard, Commander. My only regret is not being there to witness it."

"I'm sure Samara would love to talk to you about it," Marcus bowed back, smiling, "And thanks, I appreciate the thought. I'm sure Tali does too; just try not to disturb her; she's in the cabin and we're kinda...having some private time."

"I understand," Thane gave a final bow before clasping his hands behind his back and walking away, a barely noticable limp to his step, "I will be in Life Support if I am needed again," and with that, the drell left, door closing behind him.

Marcus turned back to Liara, a worried frown on his face, hands landing on his hips as he shakes his head, "The Shadow Broker must know now Liara; he'll have looked at the casualty reports, not to mention unscreen footage. He'll know you're alive and he'll know you're a bigger threat than ever before. Because of that, I can't allow you to leave the Normandy until he's dealt with, understand? I'm not risking your safe-"

"I know, Shepard. But I don't need to leave the ship anymore. I have him.  _We_ have him," she waved the disk in his face again, "Don't you remember? This disk may be encrypted, but that's because this information will lead us straight to  _him_. I'll need EDI and Legion's help in cracking the encryption, but once we do we'll have him and we'll be able to end this. He can't hide anymore, and he knows this, but soon, what he knows won't matter. We're going to bring down the biggest information broker in galactic history and save Feron, a man...a lover, I thought long dead. I've waited a long time for this moment; I never thought it would come."

He smiled, slapping her playfully on the shoulder, "You never thought Cerberus could revive either; remember how that turned out? The Shadow Broker is writing his last words, don't doubt that. And you will see Feron again, I promise."

Liara gave a long, drawn out sigh and nodded, Marcus giving her a smile before turning and leaving, door shutting behind him. When he turned around, he saw that Grunt was gone, most likely having returned to the cargo hold due to a lack of need to stay there. All Marcus could think about was this sudden turn of events. One point he's married and relishing in it, and the next thing he knows, he's dealing with another mortally wounded teammate but gets the location of the Shadow Broker in return.

Sometimes he wondered if fate liked playing these tricks on him.

Most likely they did.

**{Loading...}**

_November 8, 2185_

_1429 hours._

_VICINITY UNKNOWN. DATA INCOMPLETE._

_The Shadow Broker._

The reports came in once more; and just like all the times before, they did not show success. The Broker roared as he slammed a fist into a screen behind him, tearing through the device in one swoop due to his massive grip. He roared, turning his head around and ripped the screen from its tether and threw it across the room to land on the ground nearby, scattering pieces of tech and its innards all over the floor.

He spun to face the desk once more, his enormous form now standing and looming over the table. He leans on it, only to hear a creak as it begins to bend and he immediately lifts his weight from it, eying his terminal with a scowl of pure vehemence.

His men had failed again;  _their_ men. He had sent them on one simple task; link up with his agent on Illium, Sekat, and prepare the trap for T'Soni. But not only does Sekat get himself killed, but his men  _fail_ to kill the damn asari even after planting bombs throughout the building! He didn't care if she brought a drell, krogan and the perfect human;  _noone_ should be able to survive multiple bomb blasts; but apparently they had.

And he could only assume that T'Soni had handed the data over to Shepard. Data that held the location of this base.

The Shadow Broker had never shown fear in his entire life; he was the top of his chain in a galaxy like this, and being the co-master of a galactic network as elaborate as this one, noone could challenge him. But soon, due to his incompetence, he had lead T'Soni straight to him. And if she had given the information to Shepard...no, he  _had_ to be eliminated. He didn't care what the quarian thought...he had to kill him and Tali'Shepard now before he can amass a strong enough force to reach and assault this facility.

He slowly edged himself into his seat, eying the terminal with a fixed gaze; an almost panicked gaze. He had never had to deal with something like this before; he had always used to be the person who was one step ahead of everyone else and could assassinate them if he thought they were getting too close, but now...they were one step ahead of him, and on their way. They had to be stopped. First off was finding out just where the Normandy was...

He was answered pretty quickly. His terminal beeped with a new message as he checked it, and found out they were now on Illium having Miranda Lawson transported to a hospital for treatment; she wasn't a priority, but Shepard and his new wife heading for the MesoReso Hotel suite was.

He searched through his terminal, and had his agent in the Nos Astra Surveillance Main Hub give him access to the camera located in the reception area of the hotel. Quick as always, he was given instant access to the camera and watched Shepard and Tali as they conversed with the asari receptionist. Accessing the audio, he was in time to hear the asari hearing them their access codes.

"-and these are your codes. Enjoy yourselves," the asari said goodbye as the two waved at her, Shepard carrying their bags as they moved off screen, Tali following behind him with a bag of her own. Noticing the asari's terminal was still open, the Broker zoomed in the picture to the orange screen before the asari before she turned it off, finding the name 'Room 04, Level 39.'

He sent a message of consent to the agent in the main hub and then closed the tab, opening a new one and leaving it blank. He pondered his next option as the cursor flashed, waiting for him to submit commands. He glared at the screen, as if willing it to give him ideas.  _A way to eliminate the Shepards that doesn't involve troops...kill them in their apartment before they know what's happening..._

He growled. He couldn't do it; not without directly involving his soldiers somehow. Planting bombs could be traced back to him, and gassing the room could be traced back to his units. There was no way he could do it; and even if he did send in his soldiers, he didn't have enough left in proximity to mount a successful assault. He only had a full two squads, and they wouldn't be able to eliminate them without...

Air support. They needed air support. And that meant a gunship. But who could he get to help him who had a A-67 Mantis? The Shadow Broker didn't need any because of their location, and hiring any of the mercenary companies was out of the question due to them being untrustworthy and most of all, and more importantly, traceable.

Why was he worried about being traced? Because of  _her._  The quarian was disturbingly overprotective of the Shepards, and he still failed to see why. Why was their survival so important to the point where it jeopardized not just their operation and location, but their own roles and lives? She never explained, only ordered; and therefore, he couldn't send one order to his own soldiers without having the same orders read to her so she can know what he was doing and when.

But this operation would require his men, and a gunship he didn't have. How the hell was he going to get these orders past her? He needed to act now or they were finished; they would be found, his forces overwhelmed and their reign ended; sure he could kill some of Shepard's team, but not before being overwhelmed and eventually taken down.

He pondered his options, thinking through every possible scenario. He wracked his head for ideas, but it was clear that his species' brain was not made for thinking. He snarled as he stood and spun around, bracing himself against a barricade seperating his main hub desk from his working desk, and overlooked the massive room before him. He looked up and saw a massive glowing tank in the ceiling; the tank filled to the brim with pulsing electricity and other deadly entities he didn't want to think about. If that tank opened; anyone standing under it would be vaporized in a seconds.

The white color of it gave him an idea as to who could help him, but before he could go into it in detail, an idea on how to take care of his counterpart came into his head; incapacitate her. She can't harm him then, can she? Not only that, but with her out of the picture, he could take over the entire network and run it  _himself._ He could take care of her, kill the Shepards in their hotel home, kill Liara when she shows up with his bare hands, and no longer be the pet of the Broker and  _be_ the Shadow Broker himself. The thought caused an uncanny grin to erupt across his face.

If he tried to knock her out with his fists, he'd probably end up smashing several of her bones, so he decided to try a different tactic; more cowardly, but so was hiding in a place like this, so he didn't care anymore. Accessing the vents in the back room that the second broker occupied, he vented just enough air to knock her out, and then returned it back to normal when finished. He also locked the door for extra caution and severed all her communications to the outside world, allowing him to fully take over. She could hack the lock any quarian could, but by then, the people she so desperately wanted to protect would be dead anyway.

With that taken care of, he takes to dealing with his other idea as he sat behind his desk and accessed his terminal, linking it up to the screen directly infront of him. With an exhale of breath, he entered the contact details for The Illusive Man.

After a moment, his screen was replaced by a voice volume recorder, the Illusive Man's disinterested voice coming through the feed, "Shadow Broker; we haven't spoken in awhile. And I do believe Shepard is still very much alive."

He growled, "Wouldn't be if you hadn't sent so many troops just to take Omega from Aria. Congratulations are in order for that, I believe."

There was no smugness in the man's tone, "A military necessity; I need that station in preparation to fight the Reapers. But that has nothing to do with this. Shepard is still alive and needs to be eliminated quickly. I assume that's what you have contacted me about?" A puff of smoke was heard and the Broker nodded, although the Cerberus leader couldn't actually see it. Instead, he responded vocally.

"Yes," he responded in the low growl of his species, "He and his wife, Tali'Shepard, have just arrived at the MesoReso hotel in Nos Astra. I have two squads in the area ready to deploy and kill them on a moment's notice in their apartment; but they need air support. They need a gunship watching the skies."

The Illusive Man was quick to understand the situation, "And you need a Cerberus gunship, correct? I understand that you cannot muster your own."

The Broker sighed, "That would appear to be my situation. Can you provide?"

The airy sound of smoke passing by the terminal speaker is heard before TIM's response, "Yes. I have a Cerberus facility in the Penams Canyon, where the troops there currently have three gunships on station; send me the coordinates of this hotel, and I can have a gunship directed there immediately. The sooner this is over, the better. The loss of Shepard weighs heavily on Cerberus, and the longer this takes, the more pain we suffer."

The Broker practically glared at the screen, but knew it was pointless, "Of course. Send the gunship to the coordinates I'm uploading on November 11. My soldiers will assault first, followed by gunship fire acting as supression," knowing there would be questions as to why not now, he answered it before it was asked, "As for the date; it would be better to let them settle in and believe they are safe. People are usually the most vulnerable when they believe they are safest. Their guard will be down, and that will be the perfect time to strike."

A few moments passed before the Illusive Man responded, "Excellent. You will have your gunship; send the coordinates and give me access to your squads' communication radios so we can operate in tandem. Once done, I will leave you to running your business. Hopefully, we can end this charade in three days. If not, then its on your head. I wouldn't mess up now Shadow Broker; Shepard is relentless to taking down something when he sees a threat," a pause, "Just look at the Collectors. Or what's left of them."

The Broker growled once more, something he was becoming far too accustomed to, "Shepard will die; if your pilot does his or her job, I'll see to that. Shadow Broker out."

With that, he cut the connection and immediately sent the coordinates and radio access codes to the Illusive Man. After that, he typed up a message and sent it to the two squads currently operating in Nos Astra, telling them to meet at the same coordinates on November 11th, and to expect Cerberus gunship support.

Their reply was positive. This operation was a go. All that needed to happen now was for it to execute.

He leaned back in his seat, a grin replacing his scowl as he looked at all the screens around him, all showing pending conversation requests from various agents from all over the galaxy. It all belonged to him now; this entire operation was now at his fingertips. He was no longer the pet of a much bigger part of the Broker; he was now the Shadow Broker itself.

He was the king of information, the ultimate handler of commodity. The ability to start wars, end them or bring more people into them at his disposal. So much power...did one man deserve to have any of it? The truth was that no, he didn't, but he didn't much care. The Shadow Broker had been in business for hundreds of years; why stop now? Noone could find him, noone could stop him, and therefore, noone could do anything about him.

Unless Liara T'Soni finds him and Shepard aids her. She will find him, that's inevitable, but if he killed Shepard? Then what was left? Nothing. Liara couldn't hope to kill him in a one-person assault; she needed Shepard, the Normandy and his squad, and she knew that, and without Shepard, the rest was moot...like cutting the head off the animal.

He just watched the screens as more information flooded onto them. Pretty soon, the Shepards would be dead, and he could continue his domination over the information network for as long as he lived. It began here today. He was not a pet anymore.

He was the Shadow Broker.

**{Loading...}**

_November 9, 2185_

_1504 hours._

_Room 04, MesoReso Hotel, Nos Astra, Illium._

_Commander Marcus Lee Shepard, Chief Engineer Tali'Shepard vas Normandy._

He was glad he had chosen this hotel for their honeymoon; it was perfect. Everything about it was perfect; from furniture to view; from compartmentalization to comfortability. It was serene, peaceful and inviting; the very defintion of perfect, if he thought so himself. He sat at the kitchen counter, plate infront of him and a salad sandwich sat before him. He simply gazed out through the windows of the room, watching the skycars fly by and the sound of people below.

Room 04 was one of the most luxurious parts of the MesoReso Hotel, which was short for Meso-Resort Hotel, Meso referring to the Mesomorph body type; the name was chosen due to the human stereotype of all celebrities being well-built people who didn't fit the Ecto or Endomorph types, and were largely Mesomorphs, hence the name. The observation windows, which essentially served as the obstruction to the outside world, were huge; they spanned as far as the ceiling, which was at least five meters above them; the glass was completely transparent, allowing a glorious view of Nos Astra down below.

He sat behind a black, marble kitchen counter, with the main kitchen behind him, counter stools facing outside. There was an indoor swimming pool covered up by a sliding door that could be heated or cooled, a living room with a large 88 inch flatscreen in the wall, with two loveseats and one whole sofa that definitely outdid his in size; and that was all to the right of the kitchen. Infront of the kitchen was a long dining table; with one table at back and front, with six on each side.

To the left was the bedroom; a large master bed that, according to Tali's reaction, could have fit half the Conclave, with the bed post lying against another set of windows allowing a view of the city. In the same bedroom was a bathroom, complete with a large bathtub and shower, along with a sink and outside the bathroom, a closet. Everything in their private apartment was set to perfection.

He had heard asari always sought pleasure and luxury when it came to living arrangements.

They didn't disappoint.

He sighed as he leaned back on his stool, humming as his jaw crunched and swashed the food in his mouth into a fine paste before swallowing. He enjoyed the sound of it, the sound of freedom. The galaxy, for once, wasn't on his shoulders and noone was relying on him to keep them safe; himself, and Tali, could just enjoy their week together before, inevitably, going to find the Shadow Broker and take him down once and for all.

And then they would continue their mission; rally the galaxy for war. Starting with getting the quarians and the geth to work together.

Shaking those thoughts away, he thought of the three people he couldn't stop thinking about. Peta was a traitor and had tried to murder Marcus and his wife in bed, only to be caught, Tali to be okay, and for the man to be exiled. Marcus would forever hate the man's guts, and would probably tear him apart if he saw him again, but he felt a strange sense of...pity for the man. He was like an animal that needed to euthanized to stop its insanity from overtaking it.

Zaeed had almost died protecting Marcus from the Broker's men; there had been a moment where he thought the mercenary had died, suffering so many gunshot wounds, especially taking two to the face. But the son of a bitch had lived; he had almost died and suffered through a coma, but he had lived, and now he was out there, somewhere, rallying the Blue Suns, and possibly the Blood Pack and Eclipse, to fight the Reapers. But he was no longer with them. No longer on his squad. And that thought brought up one particular memory. Something Wrex had said to him upon his arrival on the Normandy.

_Somehow, I think that's how its going to end up. All of us, split up and fighting alongside our respective armies..._

Was Wrex foreseeing the future? What if the krogan was right and-

No. That wasn't going to happen. Tali would always be by his side, and Garrus...they were family. Nothing would tear them apart. Nothing. Not even the Reapers.

And Miranda...damn it, why did she have to go and get herself blown up? The poor woman was in a worser state than Zaeed had been, and she too was in a coma; Chakwas had transferred her to Nos Astra Hospital and as far as she was concerned, that's where she'd stay until she woke up and recovered. Miranda, the perfect human, wasn't so perfect afterall. She would recover...or would she? Not everyone wakes up from their coma...some are permanent...

No. He wasn't going to lose anyone. Not one more. He swore he would never lose another soul under his command. Not after Jenkins...Not after...after...not after losing Ashley on Virmire...

He thought of all the people under his command, depending on him, and all those who weren't. His mother. Anderson. He cared about both of them and those of his crew, and he would do anything to protect them; to keep them safe. But in war, you can't save them all...and sacrifices would be made, but as long as he lived, he would protect those he cared about most as much as he could. No excuses. No compromise.

His wife. Tali. He fought for her; for both of them. To give them a future; a house on Rannoch...children even. The Reapers weren't going to be the end of everything like Sovereign said; no, Marcus, with the galaxy's armadas at his back, would be the end of the Reapers; one way or another. Their reign of terror would end with this cycle.

And once again, he shook away those thoughts, concentrating his focus on the sound of the shower turning on, Tali obviously having now woken up and now showering. He smiled, picking up his sandwich and taking another bite. Usually he would join her, but this time, he would let her have one in silence and by herself. She earned it. There was plenty more time for themselves later.

Thoughts of the war evaporated. Thoughts of the Reapers. Everything vanished and all he thought of was now; the bliss he was feeling as a newly-wedded husband. Today, he wasn't Commander Shepard of the Systems Alliance Navy Marine Corps, N7 operative and Council Spectre. No, today he was just Marcus Shepard, husband of Tali'Shepard vas Normandy, the most wonderful woman in the world.

He finished off his sandwich quickly, licking his fingers as he did before opening the bin and disposing of the crumbs, placing the plate in the sink and rincing it before letting it join the rest of the dishes which he would do later. Standing from his stool, he approached the bedroom, entered it and stood outside the bathroom, leaning on the door frame as he listened to the water. But then he heard something else.

Humming. Feminine. The more he listened to it, the more he realized who it was coming from; it was coming from Tali.  _She can hum? What tune is that anyway?_ It wasn't one he recognized, but it was soothing; very alien, in fact. He listened to the quarian humming her alien tune, all the while closing his eyes and rocking his head. His smile grew thicker the more he listened.

It was a while before he realized the water had stopped running and Tali had stopped humming. His eyes slowly opened, a drunken, lop-sided smile on his face as his head leaned against the wall, Tali's face filling his gaze. She wore her trademark purple gown, door to the bathroom closed while she leaned against in a similiar fashion to him, a smile on her face as she looked at him. Her smile grew as she saw his eyes land on hers.

"Good morning," she greeted, leaning forward and pecking him on the lips, before leaning back, hand caressing his cheek, "What were you dreaming about?"

He shook his head, "Not dreaming, listening. I heard you humming. It was soothing. I guess it made me sorta sleepy. What was the tune?"

Tali shrugged, "I can't remember. Something my mum used to sing to me when I was little; get me to stop crying and fall asleep," she sighed happily, eyes never leaving his, "You wouldn't know it; its a khelish tune, one that was made very long ago, when my people walked with uncovered heads while the sun beamed down on our unmasked faces. The days when we were the masters of our own world, our own resources, our own civilization," her smile dropped, taking on a sadder note, "Days three hundred years long gone. Rannoch is just another fairy tale for all quarian children to listen to. A story. A fable."

He smiled warmly, wrapping her in a hug, "Don't think of things like that; think happy things. Your people won't be banished to the stars forever, Tali. I promise."

"I know. Where there's a will, you'll find a way. You always do," she laughed, "If you can come back to the dead without becoming a zombie, then anything's possible."

He laughed out loud, looking at her, "Zombie? You've been watching far too many movies."

She grinned, "I admit, you humans are a bad influence on me. Still don't know what a zombie is though. Joker mentioned it to me in reference to you, so I guess it stuck."

"You've offended me Tali," Marcus shook his head, trying to hide his smirk as he turned away, crossing his arms, trying to put on his best scowl, "How dare you call me that," he sound almost too good. Scarily convincing.

Tali's skin paled, "Keelah I-I'm so-I didn't mean to-keelah, ancestors help me, I-"

She stopped when she heard him break into laughter, the man turning towards her, chuckling non-stop. She blushed for a moment, knowing when she had been tricked and punched him in the shoulder, "You bosh'tet!" She slapped him across the same shoulder, but his laughter didn't cease and soon it became contagious, with the engineer quickly joining as they fell onto the floor, barely able to contain their humor at the scene.

Finally, when they gathered themselves, they sat against the walls, hands locked in a tight embrace of fingers. He leaned in and kissed his wife on the cheek, letting his chin land ontop of her head, eyes boring into her black mass of long hair. After a long, brutally honest silence, Tali spoke, "So...just what is a zombie?"

He chuckled quietly, sighing afterwards as he leaned further into her, "Its...complicated. Its a monster of a sort; its this creature made of human flesh."

Tali frowned, "So wait...humans thought of themselves as monsters?"

He shook his head, "No, nothing like that. Its...there's a human genre where a certain monster is involved. We call them zombies, or the undead. They are basically people who become infected with this plague that strikes them with a huge fever, followed by death," he held his breath, and looked into her eyes with a grim look, "Or at least, the human dies. The plague then takes control of the brain stem and...reanimates the corpse into a zombie. A human body, but the actual human is dead and all that is left is a blood-thirsty creature that will rip you apart."

Tali paled once more, "That's...disgusting. Horrible. But I can understand now why Joker compares husks to zombies. They are pretty much alike; just with cybernetics involved."

"And alot more uglier. Not as terrifying, but husks are definitely uglier," he swallowed, "They transmit the infection by biting or scratching you. Once you're bitten or scratched, you will soon die and turn into a zombie; no stopping it. Lucky for us, husks can't do that."

"Thank the ancestors," Tali sighed in relief, "We'd be all dead if that happened. Even you, Mister Superman. And before you ask, yes, I know about him too."

He chuckled as he pulled back from her, standing up as he did. Once on his feet, he gave her hand up, before taking the same hand and escorting her over to the kitchen. He had tried his luck at dextro meals in the cooking catalogue, and he thought he might try to make something for her; sterilized, of course.

Seating her at the kitchen bench, he kissed her on the scalp before turning back around and scraping his palms together, eying the many pieces of equipment he would need for his venture. He had never been terribly good at cooking, but he would try; anything for his wife. God he loved the sound of that word; especially associated with Tali.

He heard her spin around on the stool to face him, elbows ontop of the bench behind her as she leaned into it, watching him, "What are you up to,  _ebla'dol_?"

_That one ain't translating..._

"I'm cooking something for you. Something special..." he trailed off, before craning his head to face her, "What's an eblaaa'dol?"

She grinned, giggling to herself, "Its 'ebla'dol.' And its a khelish term of endearment. Kinda like how you humans call your loved ones 'sweetheart' or 'dear' or 'honey.' I don't get why you call them that though. You explained honey to me, but why dear? Or sweetheart? You humans are just...so weird."

"Just as much as you quarians are weird to me," he retorted playfully, "To each their own."

Her only response was a chuckle and he continued working. He quickly did a check in his mind that he was doing it all right.  _Ingredients, pan, stove, 30 degrees, throw in...that green stuff...okay, seems like its all in order. Just have to wait..._ He placed the ingredients on the pan in the order shown before placing said pan on the stove and turning the heat up to thirty degrees. Once that was done, he threw in...the green stuff, and watched it begin to boil as he leaned back and waited.

"Is it ready yet?" Tali teased, her voice deliberately trying to sound like an impatient child.

He laughs, turning to look at her, a finger on his lips, "Have some patience, love! It'll be ready soon."

A few more minutes passed as Marcus cooked until eventually her lunch was ready and he presented the mushy substance to the quarian on a milky white porcelain plate. Sliding it infront of her, she nodded courteously and thanked him for the meal by giving him a peck on the cheek. Smiling at her, he watched as she went to pick up the piece of food in her hands.

"Aren't you going to use a knife and fork?" He asked suddenly.

She looked at him with a frown and a cock of the head, "Knife and a...fuck?"

He almost spat out his drink as he chuckled, grinning at her in mirth before he noticed her frown turning into a glare. Coughing, he regained his composure and straightened himself, looking at her, "A knife and  _fork_. They're utensils we humans use to eat, and the other species."

"Can't I just use my hands?"

"Its considered..." he tried to find a word to describe it that wasn't too offensive, and eventually landed on one, "...unclean."

She sighed heavily, moving to pick it up in her hands, the food sludging through her fingers as she looked at him with a wink, "And I don't care. I'm a quarian; I like to defy the archetype."

He chuckled and made no further sound as he leaned back and allowed Tali to enjoy the meal he had cooked. This was what life would be like when the war was over.

He liked it already.

**{Loading...}**

_November 11, 2185_

_1619 hours._

_Room 04, MesoReso Hotel, Nos Astra, Illium._

_Commander Marcus Lee Shepard, Chief Engineer Tali'Shepard vas Normandy._

The elevator doors slid open with a ding, the catchy music playing in the extravagant transport ceasing and the corridor of Level 39 of the hotel appeared before them, a numerous assortment of similiar apartments to theirs ranging from 01, 02, 03, 04, 05. The entire corridor wheeled in a circle, allowing access to all five of the 'premium' apartments on the level.

Marcus stepped out of the elevator with a satisfied grin on his face, having just enjoyed a pleasant evening with his wife. Said wife quickly joined him, still in her enviro suit, this one being her normal one, with an equally broad grin; this one hidden behind a mask. He held out his arm and she chuckled, sliding hers inbetween his and they both marched towards the entrance to their room, labelled 'Room 04.'

"That was nice," Tali piped up as they closed in on the entrance to their room, the door's interface a bright red, "I haven't enjoyed a dinner like that for a while. And I mean really enjoy it; nothing to worry about; just you and me, and the food I taste."

He nodded in agreement, "Damn right. I feel like I've eaten enough to fill a horse," noticing her confused look, he shrugged, "Nevermind; let's just say I'm very full. They had a pretty nice view of the city gardens too."

They reached the doors, Marcus opening his omni-tool and keying in their code to open the door. Tali stood there, hands at her side, thinking over what they could do tomorrow. But it was ultimately Marcus who had an idea. A look hit his face, and he beamed as he turned towards her, finally finishing keying the codes as the room ran a decon protocol before the door finally opened and they walked inside, and he tapped her on the shoulder. She turned to face him as they moved into the living room, the quarian taking off her mask, and facing him.

"Hey, how about we go to the cinemas tomorrow night?" Marcus suggested, "I heard they're showing previews for that new Avengers movie. I think its called The Avengers: A New Menace."

Tali frowned at him,"What's it about?"

Marcus just shrugged, "Its about these superheroes conjured up by a company called Marvel that band together to fight evil. They've made many movies, but this one is about SHIELD, which is what Cerberus wants to be and fails, and the Avengers, who are the superhero squad, battling it out with the turians in the First Contact War. Its supposed to be action-packed."

"I think I've heard of it," Tali thought, nodding, "Yes! One of my friends talked to me about it. Said humans have a weird obsession with 'super abilities' and that Marvel has an infatuation with it."

"My favourite's Iron Man," he replied, adding a grin as a new thought hit his mind as he scanned her, "You know, considering the man's background, you actually remind me of him. He's a brilliant mechanic, has an ego, and wears a suit. I know its a battle suit with weapons and jet thrusters enabling flight and is made of steel, but its pretty similiar. Tali'Zorah, also known as...Iron Maiden!"

Tali almost burst out laughing, "Iron  _Maiden?_ I'm pretty sure I've already lost my virginity," she shook her head, "Besides, I'm not egotistical. But I can see what you mean. If you're not careful, I might actually make a combat suit, bosh'tet. And you'll be my test subject."

He shuddered mockingly, "Oooooh, the horror. Anyway, you in? I know I want to see it."

She shrugged in indifference, "Sounds good," she leaned in and kissed him on the lips. He moaned into the gesture, including Tali and they stayed like that for a bit, Marcus grabbing the back of her head and pulling her further in. The kiss continued for a bit until he began to reach for her suit belts, to which she gently pushed him away, smiling.

"Oh no you don't," she wagged her finger infront of his face before shaking her head, picking up her mask and turning to the bedroom, "I'm going to have a shower. Why don't you load up the first episode of Dead Men? I've heard its a really good show. Apparently its about an asari, turian, salarian, quarian, hanar and a human who find mischief on the Citadel; meant to be a comedy."

"I'll see if I can find a link on the extranet," he shouted his reply, as the quarian was already reaching the door to their bedroom, "Then we can sit down and watch it! Don't take too long!"

Only a chuckle answered him as he heard the bedroom door shut, Marcus sighing happily as he engaged the room's heater; it was freezing outside at the moment. With that done, a large amount of warmth poured into the room, almost seeming to lift the cold instantly. He sighed happily as he moved across to the sofa and plopped down onto it, making sure to get comfortable before he accessed his omni-tool and selected the TV, turning it on.

 _Now, let's see if I can find this show she's talking about..._ As he began to run through the extranet TV selection, he began a new round of thoughts in his head.  _This honeymoon has been great. Three days of pure bliss, and it promises to get better. Still got a few days left, so I wonder what we can do? Going to cinemas is part of it, but what else?_

He heard voices. They spoke loudly and he heard shouting, but he guessed it was just some of the neighbours. He finally located the show Tali spoke of, and flagged it for watching soon, the man leaning back as he eyed the TV, returning to his thoughts.  _Maybe I can take her to the beach; I've heard Nos Astra's got one several klicks away. I can teach her to swim in the room's pool...oh that'll be fun..._ He grinned at the thought of Tali wearing a swimsuit as he taught her how to swim.

The voices grew in crescendo, and then suddenly stopped. He frowned, and turned to the door, expecting it to open for some reason; but it didn't. He also thought he heard the thrum of engines nearby, but when he turned to look outside the room's gargantuan windows, he saw nothing.  _Just my imagination._ He turned back to the TV just in time to hear Tali shout out from the bedroom.

"I'm done!" she declared, "I'm just getting dressed; have you found the show?"

"Yeah!" he shouted back, ignoring the so-called sounds he heard, "I've flagged it for watching. Just waiting for you, dear."

He sat there for a few more moments, waiting for Tali to finish. Finally, after a minute, he heard the door open and he turned to face it, watching Tali move from the bedroom towards him in her now signature purple robe.  _Really need to get her proper clothing...but she looks so damn sexy in it..._

She didn't wear her suit; the quarian enjoying her freedom for as long as she could. She advanced towards him, smirking as she moved to cross the kitchen, only having eyes for him.

"Well, lets see if it-"

Darkness; it suddenly engulfed the entire room; only his omni-tool lit up anything. Tali stopped in her tracks, suddenly confused; her eyes left him and turned to eye the room, and irritated look on her face. Marcus was just as annoyed, turning to see that the TV was blank. He tried to activate it again, but nothing worked. Tali tried some light switches, but they failed as well. Even the door's haptic inteface was absent, leaving the door unopenable except by hand. The bedroom was inaccessible as well, and the room was left in total darkness; only the neon lights from outside, Tasale's sun, and the skycars racing by provided any light in the total blackness.

"Shit," he cursed, "Looks like a power outage. Only my omni-tool works."

Tali sighed, moving towards him in the darkness, the quarian's nocturnal vision guiding her towards him easily. She plopped down next to him, arms crossed, "Keelah, and I was so looking forward to this. Seems odd though; why wouldn't a building like this have an emergency generator?"

That was a good question; wouldn't they have kicked in by now? Maybe there was a fault with them. But then memories of the shouting voices came back to his mind. The sound of a vehicle's engines that wasn't there. None of it added up; and it scared him. And the more he thought about it, the more it sounded like...

"Tali, get on the ground. Now," he ordered, turning to the windows. The quarian gave him a quizzical look.

"Why?" Tali asked, "Is something wrong? Marcus, its just a power failure. They'll have it back up soon, I'm sure. What's wrong?"

Then he saw it; a rappel dropping from the roof. A long piece of rope dangling from the top as it lowered past the window. More followed it, until they covered every window in the room. And it all came to him in an instant; his head whorled to Tali, and an arm slammed into her back, throwing her onto the ground.

"Stay dow-" He never got to finish as he leapt after her.

As he spoke, the numerous black armoured forms of Shadow Broker soldiers slid down the rappels, weapons held in one hand and rope in the other. Once they were level with the window, they seemed to signal each other, motioning to Marcus who had just shoved Tali onto the ground. As he shouted at her to stay down and moved to leap after her, they pulled back, and fired.

The windows around the room shattered from the bursts, sending shards of glass exploding inwards to coat the ground in deadly sharp objects. The agents came in after, metal boots connecting with the ground before they combat rolled into a defensive crouch, disconnecting the rappels from themselves as first squad landed, the squad leader, being a turian, scanning the room with his Phaeston assault rifle.

Tali made no sound as she sat up, dragging her feet towards her and entering her own 'Commander Shepard' mode, as Marcus was currently doing. Her husband winced as a piece of glass wedged in his shoulder caused him pain, but he gritted his teeth and pulled it out, throwing it onto the ground. Tali was bare feet, but luckily she hadn't had to step on the smashed glass fragments just yet.

"Clear the room," the turian barked, "You four, wait here and await second squad. Once they're deployed we'll rein in the gunship. Sweep the area and mind me the Shepards; dead or alive, it doesn't matter. Just make sure you find them. Hugh, make sure the power stays down; we don't want them escaping through the doors and keep their visibility to a minimum. The rest of you, activate your night vision and fan out."

Marcus met Tali's eyes and nodded, and they both crawled across the room until they sat on the other side of the sofa, hiding from the Shadow Broker's troopers. He poked his head out to see how many were headed their way, and saw only two of them; a krogan with a scimitar shotgun, and a human with a Tempest SMG, both wearing helmets.  _Must be tough rope to be able to rappel a krogan..._

"You see anything?" the krogan growled through his helmet, kicking over one of the loveseats to see if anyone was hiding behind it. Disappointed he moved further inside as his human companion replied.

"Nothing over here," he scanned the back of the sofa that the two hid behind and a plan formed in Marcus' head as he told Tali to remain still as he began crawling behind the back of the couch towards the human's position, "Just a sofa."

"Can't have gone far," the krogan replied, moving into the far side of the living room, shotgun raised in fervor as he obviously looked forward to blowing Marcus and Tali's heads off with it. The human soldier shook his head, mumbling to himself about 'pointless search. Could just blow the building.' All of a sudden, a sound came from behind the couch and the man immediately leaned over, weapon raised, a smile on his face as he prepared to shout, 'gotcha!'

Marcus didn't give him a chance.

He suddenly found himself falling over the couch, head first, in the darkness and landed on his back with a thump. He faced the ceiling, the SMG suddenly being relieved from his grip. He looked to see his quarry staring down at him, an angry scowl on his face, now holding the soldier's SMG. He looked at him with fear, but didn't get to yell out as the man's elbow suddenly acellerated into his face, the force augmented by his cybernetics and killing the man instantly.

"And I was having such a good day," Marcus mumbled, making sure the SMG was set to incendiary rounds before he rejoined Tali. The quarian looked at him with wide eyes as he joined her.

"What do we do?" She eyed his weapon, "You don't plan on charging them with that do you?"

"I plan on killing them with it," he told her, showing his wife the thermal clips he had taken from the dead soldier's body before checking that the weapon's chamber was full. He turned back to her and motioned to the krogan across the room, "And soon, you'll have a shotgun. You take him out, and I'll take care of the rest of these assholes. I've had enough of this."

"What?" she almost shouted incredulously, but lowered her tone slightly, "You want me to take on an armoured krogan with a shotgun while I'm in a  _robe?_ That's suicide!"

"They're using night vision," he told her, "Use your omni-tool and get him to face you. When he does, take a picture and make sure the flash is on. It should blind him long enough for you to take care of him and take his weapon; you have to be quick. I'll then cover you while you get to the bedroom; you need to get your suit back on."

She nodded and leaned in, kissing him deeply on the lips before pulling back, cradling his cheek, "Please be careful."

"You too. Make sure to contact the Normandy too and let them know what's going on," he told her before stroking her cheek. She nodded before she got into a crouch and disappeared into the darkness, the krogan not knowing what he was in for. At that thought, he smiled and turned back to face the invaders. He lost the smile instantly and it turned into a cold look of fury.

_This has to stop. When this is over, Liara better have that location. I'll go knock on the Broker's door myself when this is through._

"Second squad's inside!" one soldier reported, "Calling in the gunship!"

The turian's response was immediate, "Hold on that order; Jensen hasn't reported in. Somebody find him and get me a damn sitrep. We're on a deadline, and I don't want to work alongside Cerberus any longer than I have to."

A silent growl escaped Marcus' lips.  _Cerberus. Of course they'd be helping the Broker kill me. Maybe I'll find the Illusive Man and pay him a visit too..._ He quickly reentered the present as he rose from behind the sofa however, making sure to summon his biotics in case he was needing to fight.

He heard a scuffle behind him followed by a thump; Tali must have taken down that krogan. That was good. He continued to edge forward, SMG in hand as he activated his omni-tool, opening the camera and aiming forward, finger hovering over the 'capture' button. Soon, a salarian came around the corner, vindicator raised. As he did, he turned to face Marcus.

"Jense-" then he spotted him and moved to shout, "Oh-"

A flash and the salarian was spinning, stunned and blinded by the sudden flash of light that overwhelmed his night vision sensors in his helmet. He let out a scream before Marcus could silence him, his omni-blade semi-decapitating his head from his body as the salarian fell forwards into a dead heap. Shouting was heard and an asari wheeled the corner, followed by two human females with carnifex pistols, the asari carrying an asari-made disciple shotgun. She eyed him with wide-eyes and then scowled.

"Fuck!" The asari shouted, backing away as she and her men opened fire, "Shepard's armed! I repeat, Shepard's got a fucking gun! Jensen and Orto are dead! Open fucking fire!"

Marcus managed to roll to the side as a hail of gunfire ripped into the floorboards where he had been before, the man managing to take one of the chairs and slam it down to the floor, taking cover behind its steel surface. Darting from cover, he took aim with his camera again and flashed it, causing all 21 of the hostiles in the room cry out as their night visions turned into deadly weapons. The turian managed to bark one order as he ripped his helmet off and threw it outside.

"Take off your helmets!" he ordered, "He's fucking with our night vision! Take off your damn helmets, find him and kill the spirits-be-damned asshole! And where's my fucking gunship support!? Well what are you waiting for!? We need it now!"

A shotgun blast rang out and the asari's head disappeared in a purple mist. Her body fell backwards just as a purple form joined him behind cover, shotgun smoking as she pumped the depleted shell out and the chamber automatically injected a fresh clip. Tali smiled at him, body in a crouch.

"Miss me?" she asked playfully, eying the hostiles behind them, "We've got quite the wake-up party; I counted twenty-one...well, twenty now. How do we deal with them all?"

"That's not all. They've got a-" he barely got to finish as a Cerberus gunship adorning Cerberus colors shot up to level with their windows and both of their eyes landed on it. He gulped and Tali's eyes widened as it searched the room and immediately locked onto them, its chin-mounted main gun revving up with a whir...

He immediately jumped infront of her and brought up his omni-shield, a long winded gust of heavy rotary gun fire slamming into it and causing him to grunt from the force, but he held his ground, not willing to drop his guard for even a second, as it could mean life or death.

Before he even knew what hit him, he was thrown into Tali as a rocket flew from the gunship's lower wing and impacted his shield, causing both of them to go flying across the room. He fell ontop of her, winding both of them as they scrambled to get back up, now shielded from the gunship's vision by the sofa.

Marcus rolled away, letting his omni-shield wink out of existence as he turned to face the Shadow Broker's soldiers who now had whorled on him and Tali, weapons raised and pressing their respective triggers.

A swarm of gunfire unleashed itself on them and impacted a vibrant blue shield of energy that Marcus erected before himself. The biotic field absorbed the enemy shots, and they soon ceased fire, the soldiers spreading out to flank them while the gunship did the same, flying behind Tali. Instead of reacting, Marcus formed a biotic flare and threw it into the enemy's middle ranks.

With Tali close behind, they confiscated both the krogan's and Jensen's shield generators and attached them to their clothes and activated them. Meanwhile, the flare detonated and 3 soldiers died as they were instantly vaporized. A few others stumbled and moved to regain their footing and the turian sergeant was quick to begin barking orders again. But then a creaking was heard, and just as Marcus and Tali arrived to engage the troopers and the gunship got into position, a snap was heard.

Turns out the soldiers were standing ontop of the cover for the pool.

And said cover snapped from the heat of the flare destroying the welding.

The turian cried out as he fell inwards, the entire roofing for the pool coming apart. Water splashed as a total of five of the agents fell and begin to flail around, their armor dragging them downwards as they flailed; Marcus watched as the turian showed how much of a terrible swimmer their species was, the turian choking and splurting as water filled his throat and slowly got dragged down. The other soldiers quickly got their shit together and some tried to help get their comrades out of the water, but Marcus and Tali weren't as merciful.

Taking aim with his SMG, he fired a short burst directly into the head of one salarian who had been raising his weapon. The shot impacted his shields, but the second burst ruptured them, followed by the third piercing the soldier's skull. The salarian fell backwards, dead, as his other comrades moved to engage, the Cerberus gunship looming over them.

One human soldier moved to encircle Tali, moving to punch her in the face, but quickly found it blocked and a three-toed foot swatting her rifle away. Before she could recover, Tali had punched her in the face and had then extended her omni-blade, slamming it into her throat. She continued towards the bedroom without even looking back as the woman's neck ruptured and dark red blood spat out, her body falling to the ground in an already thickening pool.

Noone seemed to notice Tali moving for the bedroom and all weapons moved to land on Marcus' form, along with the gunship. He sent a biotic shockwave into their ranks, causing them to stumble for a bit as he rolled back into cover, narrowly avoiding a burst from the Mantis' rotary cannon. His relief was run short though as he tried to catch his breath, but couldn't.

A flash, burning heat on his skin, and he was thrown into the TV screen, the gunship's rocket ripping apart the sofa he had hid behind and incinerating it, along with the decking around it, the screen he had smashed into cracking and hissing with static. He fell back to the ground, groaning from the pain that shot up his back. That gunship was really starting to piss him off.

Two more soldiers, these two being krogan, approached him, ready to finish him off. Just as they raised their shotguns, he formed a biotic fist and slammed it into the ankle of the one on his right, causing said soldier to cry out in agony as multiple bones cracked and he fell onto his back, but unwilling to let go of his weapon.

The krogan on his left growled and a burst from his weapon almost hit Marcus in the torso, if it weren't for his quick spin to the side, resulting in a mere graze. Omni-shield appearing in hand, the spectre leapt forward and smashed the krogan in the face with it, the trooper stumbling backwards and hissing in pain as hot energy seared his face.

Still regenerating, the krogan with the broken ankle stumbled to get up but was sent back down by an augmented kick from Marcus as he turned back to face his other opponent, who was already rushing him, half his face blackened by the heat of the omni-shield. Unable to do anything else, Marcus raised his shield just in time for the krogan to slam into it, said beast almost screaming as his elbow was close to disintegrated from the impact and he stumbled backwards, cradling the seared stump.

Pushing the advantage, he quickly morphed his shield into the familiar form of an orange blade and rammed it into the krogan's open mouth. The krogan stopped moving almost immediately, orange blood gushing out onto Marcus' shirt and out the other side of the krogan's head. A choking sound was heard, before the soldier went limp and fell backwards, off the blade, and onto the ground.

Still recovering, Marcus was unable to notice the krogan behind him before it was too late; five hundred pounds smashing into his back and sending him onto the floor. He tried to wriggle free, but it wasn't working and the krogan had him completely pinned. Unable to think of anything else, Marcus raised his omni-tool to the soldier's face and pressed capture, hoping he was still using his night vision.

He wasn't lucky enough for that, but it did stun the krogan enough to allow him to spin around to face him, and without further hesitation, he used his biotics to slam a warp into his face, the resulting proximity of the blast ripping the krogan's face into atoms and bits of gore as it was completely blasted. With the decapitated krogan dead, he pushed his dead body off of him and moved to stand up, only for the turian leader and four other salarians to come into positions around him, the turian's phaeston lowered, along with the salarian's many shuriken and tempest SMGs.

"That's one," the turian smugly stated, "Just leaves the qua-"

_BANG. BANG. BANG._

Three sniper shots, all of deeper, louder and faster crescendo, echoed through the room. The turian's torso was completely torn off his body and was sent flying, while the salarian on his right simply fell to the ground with a hole in his head and the one on the left with a hole through his throat, green blood pouring out.

Covered in green, blue and orange blood, Marcus got to his feet, using the distraction to sweep the closest trooper's feet out from under him, while simultaneously using a biotic blast to send the second one flying. Once that was done, he spun back around and grabbed the downed salarian's neck, snapping it in one fell swoop.

Leaping to his feet, back still aching from the krogan charge he had received, he quickly retrieved his Tempest and moved to deal with the rest of the hostiles in the room. With only eight troopers left in the room, this should have been a walk in the park, especially with their attention divided; four asari heading for the bedroom while two turians, one human and another salarian headed for him, but no...

There just had to be a gunship, too.

This time, two rockets raced towards him, and he managed to roll free of them too, with one rocket blasting open the room's entrance and destroying the door in a single shot, while the second rocket impacted a support column and completely destroyed, causing half the ceiling to come down with it; rubble, dust and concrete and all.

He was temporarily blinded by the blasts, but quickly learnt to jump into cover as a wave of death from the gunship quickly followed its heavy assault. He landed near the windows and looked out across the city to try and locate his friendly snipers; he found a building of similiar height to theirs that stood three blocks away and, hoping they could see him, he signalled to take down the Cerberus vehicle.

Worry began to overtake him though as he remembered the four asari moving to kill Tali, and he hoped she was alright. Desperate to learn of his wife's fate, he leapt back up and right-hooked an approaching turian in the face, before following up with a knee to the stomach. Grabbing his head, he slammed it into the edge of a nearby table. Driven by worry and pure rage at the Shadow Broker's attack, he then followed up his momentum, picked up the turian and threw him outside and down into the streets below, the turian screaming as he fell.

A gunshot impacted his kinetic barriers followed by more and he quickly brought up a biotic field to shield himself, the usage of his biotics quickly draining him; he wanted this over,  _now._ Spinning around, he rushed forward, and into the group of three that now bothered him, taking the Broker's soldiers offguard.

Dropping his SMG, he swatted the salarian's Saber rifle aside and straightened his arm; before ramming his elbow into it, breaking it cleanly as the soldier cried out in pain and slipped away, cradling it. Without even waiting, he turned to the human who had also dropped his weapon in favor of hand to hand.

The familiar whirring of engines sounded behind him and a blinding beam of light illuminated both their bodies. An idea forming in his head, he quickly used the light that blinded the human to his advantage; kicking him in the balls, and quickly ducking behind his body...

...before using it as a human shield as a fresh wave of rotary cannon fire tore the Broker's henchman asunder, bits of bone, muscle and blood flying everywhere as the gunship completely tore him apart. And just to make sure the gunship was completely distracted, he used his biotics to pick up the unrecognizable corpse and threw it at the assault ship, the flying object forcing the pilot to break off.

The turian wheeled on him, but it was too late for him to do anything. Marcus' omni-bow extended and blew his head clean off, and the salarian with the broken arm's shields didn't save him from Marcus' headbutt, the salarian's delicate skull cracking instantly from the impact and his limp body crumbling to the ground.

In the silence, he heard no gunfire coming from the bedroom and his rage almost immediately melted, concern driving him as he sprinted for it, and straight into the pool room...

...right into the gunship's line of sight.

He stopped and turned, the Cerberus pilot bringing his chin-mounted cannon to bear on his still form, and he could only stare at it, powerless and out in the open. Before just as the gunship moved to fire, a sniper shot slammed into the hull, followed by two more, and the gunship turned around, trying to identify its new target, but to no avail. Marcus smiled and scanned the room, trying to find something to help him while the pilot was distracted.

And he found it. Using his biotics, he turned around and picked up the burnt remains of the door leading into the room and picked them up, all at once, and turned back to the gunship, which now turned back towards him, as if in slow motion. Mustering all his rage, he glared, as if meeting the pilot's eyes and suddenly set piece after piece hurling at the Mantis gunship, all targetted at hitting the cockpit.

There was no time for him or her to turn and the first slammed into the cockpit, smashing the cockpit window and most likely killing the pilot instantly. The other three pieces hit other, unintended, locations as the Mantis spun out of control; one piece shredded the right wing clean off, the second ripped off the tail, and the third hit it in the belly, dealing the finishing blow. With a thunderous wail, the angel of death erupted into flames in midair, bits of debris flying in all directions as it exploded, the heat easily reaching the spectre and warming his skin.

Brought back to reality, his eyes snapped back to the eerily quiet bedroom and he raced over there, begging for her to be okay. At that moment, power came back online throughout the room, and bright lights illuminated the areas that had been damaged or destroyed in the ensuing battle. His omni-tool beeped with an incoming communication, but he ignored it as he reached the entrance to their bedroom, now forced wide open and looked inside.

A smile reached his face, and a sigh of relief.

His worries were rendered moot.

Lying, strawn across the bed was the dead form of one asari soldier, head snapped in an awkward position and arms stretched out across the mattress. A second soldier's body lay kneeling on the ground, her head poking out through a nice hole in the balcony window, head now soaked with purple blood and shards of glass. A third asari had a shotgun shell wedged clean through her abdomen.

The fourth was still alive, and being held up against the wall to his right by Tali, one hand wrapped around her throat and a glare piercing the asari's gaze, the soldier's right leg visibly broken and one eye missing, now replaced by a glass shard where purple blood leaked out. A smoking scimitar shotgun was cradled in one hand, and Tali was now in her full suit, now speckled with barely noticable pecks of blood.

Tali's voice was ice, laced with anger and irritation, "You made a bad decision coming here, bosh'tet. I swear, if my husband is injured, or  _dead_ , I will find your boss, and I will show him just what I helped do to the Collectors. I will make him  _beg_."

Marcus almost shuddered at the words; once again, it was a darker side of Tali he had never wanted to see, one he had given birth to. Tali had followed in his footsteps; she had become a great leader, an excellent soldier, a living legend among her people, a person to depend on and ruthless when it came to protect the people she loved and cared about. This darker side...he hadn't seen it since her brutal flaying of the Montgomery's captain a month ago.

_What have I created? I still love her, no doubt about that, but...where's my Tali? Did I murder the cute, shy, nervous little quarian I once knew, and replace her with a ruthless clone of myself in quarian female form, and with the same name?_

Clearing his throat, he stepped inside, catching both parties' attention, "I'm fine Tali, don't worry about me. Got some sniper support; gunship is gone, and so is the rest of the Shadow Broker's men."  _Don't be like me, Tali. You don't want to be like me. Noone does. I've done things I'm not proud of...please..._

She nodded, turning back to the asari, "Then we are done here," her voice was a sneer.

The asari just spat in her face, further aggravating the wound in her missing eye socket, "Fuck you, quarian. I wish I could have been there for Aeda's assault on the Rayya. Seeing so many suit-rats die must have been-"

Tali dropped her shotgun, and in a fit of vehemence, grabbed the piece of glass in the asari's eye, twisted it, and pulled it out, letting the purple blood flow freely. She screamed in agony, but was cut short as Tali leaned in, unsheathed her boot knife and slit the asari's throat, letting her dead body crumble to the floor in a heap as she sheathed it again. Again, Marcus looked at her in momentary horror, before embracing her, worry kicking in.

_Maybe its too late..._

The embrace lasted a moment before breaking apart, Marcus' omni-tool once again chiming. He answered it, and Garrus' familiar form appeared on the holographic interface, "Hey! Been trying to call you for a few minutes now. How are you? You guys alright?"

"We're fine, Garrus," Marcus replied, rubbing his forehead to get rid of a drop of green blood collecting on his brow, "Going to need some cleaning up though. I want you to stall the police for as long as you can while me and Tali get a skycar. We're going back to the Normandy. Thanks for the sniper support."

"You're welcome," Garrus replied with a grin, "But Legion and Thane may have helped alittle. Not much, but enough. I did most of the heavy stuff. I'm sending Legion and Thane back now, but it seems the geth has some good news for you that you'll want to hear; time for some payback."

"Good. We'll see you back at the Normandy," by this point, Tali was leaning over his shoulder, eager to see what the good news was as Garrus' face disappeared from view and Legion appeared.

"Shepard-Commander," the geth began, "T'Soni-Broker has ordered us to transmit information correlating to the Shadow Broker's location. We, T'Soni-Broker and the Enhanced Defense Intelligence have broken the encryption of the Sekat-Traitor's information. There was approximately 1,229,832 million versions of the encryption located on the disk, but we were-"

"We get it Legion," Tali interrupted, "What did you find?"

"The Shadow Broker's Base of Operations," Legion deadpanned, or was it just being logical?

They both sighed, "Yes, we get that Legion. But where is it?"

A few seconds passed as the geth gathered the required data before relaying it, head flaps moving as it did, "Location as specified: Hourglass Nebula, Sowilo System, Located inside the planet Hagalaz, third planet of the system."

Marcus and Tali grinned in triumph, but stopped long enough to process the information. One question hung in the air, and with a gulp, Tali asked it, "Um...what do you mean, Located  _inside_ Hagalaz?"

"Self-explanatory," Legion stated, "Hagalaz is classified by organics as a 'gas giant.' Rated a second tier garden world by Salarian Union upon discovery by mining corporation of unknown name. It has a nitrogen-oxygen atmosphere capable of supporting life, but its rotational period is slower than that of most organic homeworlds, including Earth. Extranet Codex entry as follows:

"Hagalaz is a second-tier garden world that receives little attention from the galactic community. A salarian mining expedition initially discovered the planet, which was promptly strong-armed away from them by organized crime figures. Hagalaz's exploration rights were then sold to the highest bidder, which led to a brief burst of mining colonies in the 2000s, but most of those were abandoned when other planets were found with more accessible resources.

Though Hagalaz has a nitrogen-oxygen atmosphere capable of supporting life, its rotational period is slower than Earth's, making its day and night 98 Earth hours long. The intense heat on one side of the planet and the extreme cold on the other make for violent storm cells wherever the sun is rising or setting. As a result, the flora and fauna of Hagalaz have developed the capability to live in cycles of ice, flooding, baking heat, and dramatic air pressure changes. The biota of the planet has been largely unexploited by the exotic pet and gardening trades, since simulating their natural conditions is problematic for the average consumer."

Marcus whistled as he looked at Tali, and the quarian seemed to return the 'WTF' expression. As both of them began to approach the exit to the building, he continued to speak to Legion, "Thanks for the information dump Legion; much appreciated. Return to the Normandy and we'll meet you there. Also, have EDI inform all ground team members to meet in the Conference Room immediately. We've got alot to talk about."

"Affirmative, Shepard-Commander," And with that Legion, deactivated Garrus' omni-tool, cutting the connection.

Shutting down his own omni-tool, the two of them moved through the now empty doorway and through the thickening crowd of onlookers who had come to examine the destruction. Ignoring their lingered looks, Marcus and Tali climbed into the elevator and hit the button for the bottom floor. Tali turned to him then, looking at him.

"What are you going to do, Marcus?" Tali asked, curious.

He turned to her with a serious expression, "I'm going to bring the pain down on the Shadow Broker, that's what. I'm going to attack his base."

She widened her eyes, "Really? You're just going to attack? He'll be ready for us."

"Saren was ready for us on Virmire. The Collectors were ready for us beyond the Omega 4 Relay, and they were far greater threats," Marcus stated with confidence, "Trust me, the Broker has signed his death warrant. This is his judgment day," with a sympathetic look, he turned back to his wife, "I'm sorry we have to cut our honeymoon short, but you know its not safe until-"

A hand landed on his cheek, and he immediately relaxed at her touch, "I know Marcus, its too dangerous. We'll take out the Broker, and then we'll continue our honeymoon in peace."

He smiled back at her and kissed her hand, letting it drop back to her side as his own hand grasped it tightly, "Couldn't have said it better myself."

Silence gripped the elevator for the rest of the ride.

**"Judgment Day. Perfect name for it."**

**\- Tali'Shepard pav Rannoch.**

**"As soon as Liara told me she was hunting down the Shadow Broker, I looked forward to the day I'd meet him, face to face, for real. But when I saw him that day...that was a whole different thing. I never expected what I saw. None of us did."**

**\- Marcus Shepard.**

_**A/N:** _

_**Incase you're wondering, the Codex is kinda like the extranet's version of Wikipedia.** _

_**And I owe all of you a sincere apology! This chapter came out alot later than I thought it would, and days turned into weeks! I'm so sorry for possibly making you think this story is dead; its not. A combination of school work, Walking Dead, Boardwalk Empire, and Game of Thrones Season 4 has kept me away from this story, along with my recent...34th? Playthrough of the Halo Franchise. I know its no excuse; I just want you to know how sincerely sorry I am.** _

_**Hopefully the next chapter will come out soon. The next chapter will also signify the end of the Shadow Broker arc, just so you know. With Zaeed gone and Miranda still in a coma, the rest of the Normandy crew has a major information broker to take down; just what will they find on that base? And who is this quarian broker that you've apparently heard of before? Stay tuned.** _


	26. The Judgment Day

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Shepard leads the crew in an assault on the Shadow Broker's base of operations. Not everything is as simple as perceived.

**REQUIEM**

**CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE:**

**THE JUDGMENT DAY**

_November 11, 2185_

_1904 hours._

_Debriefing Room, Normandy-Class Stealth Frigate Normandy SR-2, Docked on Illium._

_Commander Marcus Lee Shepard, Chief Engineer Tali'Shepard vas Normandy, Gunnery Master Garrus Vakarian, Master Thief Kasumi Goto, Professor Mordin Solus, Major General Kal'Reegar vas Normandy, Staff Commander Kaidan Alenko, First Lieutenant Jacob Taylor, First Lieutenant Madi'Soi vas Ceresa, Assassin Thane Krios, Justicar Samara, Soldier Urdnot Grunt, Subject Zero Jack, Legion, Information Broker Liara T'Soni, Chieftain Urdnot Wrex._

His walk down the CIC was structured, purposeful, and fluent. There was nothing accidental or graceful about it; it was simply fixed on a singular goal, and nothing would halt it. He moved down the flight deck and through the CIC itself, heading for the armoury, Tali right behind him, followed by Garrus, Thane and Legion. By now, everyone would have been assembled in the conference room, so they were all just waiting for him.

To order them into the unknown once again.

To fight an enemy who knew everything about them before they even spoke.

A foe unknown to them.

But ultimately an enemy they would defeat and send straight into hell. They had done it to the Collectors already, and the geth heretics, and Sovereign. The Shadow Broker and his forces would be no different. No great achievement.

But it would be recorded in history.

He moved through the armoury, which was currently unoccupied. As he did, he spoke to thin air, his intent being to be heard by the ship's resident AI, "EDI, have Joker plot us for Hagalaz in the Sowilo System, Hourglass Nebula. Its time to pay the Broker a visit and give him a knock on his door to let him know we mean business."

"Joker has been informed commander," EDI declared, "We will reach Hagalaz in one standard galactic day."

"Thank you EDI," he thanked as he moved into the conference room, finding it to be full. Upon his entrance, all heads turned to face him, and immediately ceased all conversation. He nodded to them, returning the salute Kaidan and Jacob gave him, before heading through the crowd of them and towards the head of the table, where Garrus and Wrex already waited, and where he and Tali would be.

The crowd was evidently missing two members; and it saddened him to know they were gone; not dead, just...not present. Zaeed had his own mission to help Marcus with, and Miranda was currently fighting for her life in Nos Astra Hospital. He hoped she would be okay, and left it at that. Knowing her, she would be annoyed at him for not letting her tag alony to defeat the Shadow Broker, but would forgive him, knowing the circumstances.

He quickly made his way through the throng of people and arrived at the head of the table, standing infront of it and bracing himself against it, Tali coming to stand on his left and clasping her hands behind her back, turning from his wife to his subordinate in a matter of seconds. Garrus stood on his right with Wrex, and nodded to the spectre, who immediately entered commander mode as he turned to face the group.

"As you probably all know, we are currently in a period of war with the Shadow Broker," Marcus began, glancing at Liara who acknowledged it with a nod, coming to stand at the head with him, datapad in hand. He turned to face the rest of the squad once more, "A war that, until now, has remained rather...ignorable. However, a recent development has now forced my hand."

Everyone stood at attention, suddenly eager to hear what else he had to say and he nodded, taking his hands off the table and standing at his full height, "The Shadow Broker has dealt some damaging blows, there is no denying it. It was one of his men that shot and almost killed Tali and Kasumi. It was one of his squads that put Zaeed into a coma and almost killed him. It was his orders that set about the events that lead to the massacre on the Rayya. It was his actions that lead to the bombing of the Dracon Trade Center, that almost killed Grunt, Thane and Liara, and put Miranda into such a critical condition, that she cannot join us at this moment."

A sigh was heard, and Jack spoke up, "Give the cheerleader credit; she's a tough bitch. What I heard, anything like what she suffered would have killed anyone else. Guess her perfection helped with something, right?"

He turned to her with a smile, "That was very nice of you Jack."

She snorted, crossing her arms over her small breasts, "It only comes in small doses; enjoy it while you fucking can."

He chuckled, turning back to the group, his mouth setting about a grim tone once more, "However, the Shadow Broker hasn't stopped there. No, today he tried, again, to have me and Tali killed when two squads of his men, supported by a Cerberus gunship, attacked us in our apartment in the MesoReso Hotel. None of us were seriously hurt, and all Shadow Broker forces on sight were eliminated, plus the hostile gunship."

A growl was heard from Wrex, and Jack cracked her knuckles, obviously expecting some retaliation. Kal crossed his arms and Madi leaned against the table, while Mordin seemed to contemplate. Thane's face remained diplomatic, while Samara shot him an understanding look. Liara scowled absently, obviously experiencing some mental anecdote about a similiar set of events. Kaidan shook his head and Kasumi...she was at Tali's side in an instant, the quarian trying to tell her that she was fine, much to the thief's objection.

He raised his voice catching everyone's attention once more, "But we will not let this break us. He will not break us; we faced Harbinger and his Collectors and came out on top. Some of us even took down Sovereign and his geth and came out on top.  _We will not let this stop us._ It will fuel us, give us strength, and empower us to move on," he slammed a fist on the table, his face contorting into a look of cold-blooded fury, "And I don't know about the rest of you, but I've had enough of the Broker's fucking cowardly attacks. Innocents could have been hurt,  _again_ , in this attack, and I'm going to put a stop to it. Right now, right here. All of us will."

"As of today, the final battle of this shadow war begins. The Shadow Broker wants a fight, he just got one," He faced every single one of them, "As of now, the Normandy is now heading for the Tasale Relay, where we will head for the Shadow Broker's base, land on it and not only destroy it, but the Broker himself. Tomorrow, the Shadow Broker falls, and we end the threat he poses."

"But I'm not going to force you to fight a battle you don't want to be a part of," Marcus held his hands in the air before him, "This isn't your fight, and I understand that. So if you'd rather stay on the Normandy or, hell, leave the Normandy, I don't mind. You can leave and you won't be judged. I swear it."

Everyone looked at him for a moment and then, suddenly, Jack broke into laughter. He looked at her with his own grin, already knowing her decision and the rest of the group's.

"You can't be fucking serious, boy scout," she studied him for a second, and slammed an open palm on the table, "You can count me in, asshole. Don't know about the rest of you, but I'm itching for a fight! I told you I was going to stay on this ship and help you stop the Reapers, so you can bet I'm going to help you kill the Shadow fucking Broker!"

Grunt slammed his fists together, "My exact thoughts! Battlemaster, I'm not going anywhere until this Broker is dead and his base is lying in glorious flames, so count me in!"

"Those bastards hurt Miranda, a woman who's saved my life in the past and who I consider a friend," Jacob piped up, "I want him dead just as much as you do."

"Shadow Broker a threat to mission objective. A threat to existence of all life. Must be stopped. Must be removed as threat," Mordin declared, meeting his eyes and nodding, "Will stay. Besides, still have much work in regards to reproductive agent."

"I'm the Master Thief, and you'll need me to hack through the base," Kasumi stated, crossing her own arms and facing Marcus fully, "And if that isn't enough, you guys are like one great big disfunctional family. I'm here to stay."

"Not like we have much to do," Kal spoke, both for himself and Madi, "Might as well join in. If it means we get to get take down one of the galaxy's biggest bosh'tets, why the hell not?"

"The Broker, as Mordin has already made quite clear, must be eliminated in order for our mission to succeed," Thane decreed, nodding, "I will join you in this quest to rid the galaxy of him; it is my job as an assassin, afterall."

"The justicar code demands that those who murder innocents as he has must be executed. Harshly and swiftly," Samara calmly dictated, "The Broker will die, and I will not turn my back to it. I will join you, Shepard. The Broker almost tricked me into killing your mate, and for that, I must make amends by killing the very man who almost caused it."

"Consensus reached," Legion chimed, "We have reached the conclusion that a declaration of an oath of allegiance to your cause is a primary software ability that is used to boost morale. We will participate in this action and this platform will aid you," it then added, in what he  _swore_ was an angry tone, "The Shadow Broker is also responsible for bringing termination upon multiple Creator runtimes. This must stop. We are their children, and we will avenge them, as an organic would."

"No arguments from me," Wrex snarled, "I just want to see that pyjak dead."

"Me too," Kaidan agreed.

He turned to Tali, a smile on his face as she spoke, "No speech from me. I'm with you all the way Marcus; till death do us part."

He turned to Garrus, who just shrugged, a grin creasing his mandibles, "I don't have anything quite as sappy Marcus, and I'm definitely not going to marry you anytime soon. I have no grand speech. So I'm just going to leave it at 'you need Archangel' and the rest can tell itself," he nodded to the spectre, who nodded back, turning back to his group with a determined gaze.

"Then you know what's coming," Marcus growled, "We're going to assault the Shadow Broker's base in Hagalaz, and it'll be so swift and sudden, he won't see it coming," he turned to the asari next to him, "Liara? Anything you want to add?"

The asari turned to him, nodding and bringing up her datapad, typing a few commands before something appeared on it and she cleared her throat, "From what I can surmise from the information Sekat had gathered before apparently defecting back to the Broker, is that the Broker's base is inside the gas giant Hagalaz, the third planet of the Sowilo System, which rules out a ground based facility," she tapped a few more commands, "That left a space station or starship, at least until I reviewed the info further."

"Well spill the goods princess of vengeance," Jack spouted, arms folded ontop of the table as she leaned over, "Which is? Station or ship?"

"Ship, to my surprise," Liara replied, her stern gaze fixing on everyone; a testament to her originally shy and nervous attitude towards life. Gone was the introvert Liara had once been, "However, it can't just be any vessel; Hagalaz's two hemispheres have colliding climates; one side is blistering heat, the other is freezing cold; as in colder than even Noveria. There is an area in Hagalaz's center where these hemispheres collide and create a massive storm cell; an area with winds strong enough to send weary men flying for kilometers, and tesla like energy that creates a non-stop dance of lightning. It is pretty much the most hostile place for a person to be in, and practically uninhabitable. Any ship that goes there for a prelonged period rarely comes out in one piece."

She spoke once more, dropping the datapad on the table before pointing a confident, firm finger at it, "Which is why I believe the Shadow Broker's ship is directly in the core of it."

Everyone looked at her with wide eyes, and a few gasped, but overall, they all looked at her with shocked expressions. Marcus turned to her with a raised eyebrow, questioning her logic, "Um...come again? I thought you said prolonged exposure to those kind of conditions would tear a normal ship apart."

Liara smiled at him, "Yes, a  _normal_ ship. Its likely this is anything but a normal ship. Its also the perfect place to put it if you're hiding."

Mordin nodded, "Yes yes yes, excellent place. Hostile climate wards off potential visitors; corporations, industries, paramilitary factions, colonial authorities. Harsh winds and lightning makes landing and passing through undesirable and Hagalaz largely ignored as uninhabitable. Lightning also scrambles sensors; impossible to pick up anything inside gas giant," Mordin inhaled and exhaled, an impressed smirk on his face, "Perfect hiding place."

"No wonder noone's been able to find this guy," Jacob braced against the table, "Hagalaz sounds like the last place you'd look. Only a Reaper or the Collectors could survive in an atmosphere like that."

Marcus nodded to him, turning back to Liara with another nod, "What kind of ship do you think it is?"

Liara shrugged, turning to the table, "EDI, could you do a search in all known databases, using Hagalaz's atmospheric data, to find a type of vessel that could survive in that kind of climate for...say...an infinite amount of time?"

EDI's blue pawn quickly made its presence known in the middle of the table, "I am running a search now," a few seconds later, the AI responded, "There is no known vessel capable of surviving in such conditions. I have done a search on all known merchant, paramilitary, military, government, mining, civilian and alien starships currently in existence and decommissioned, and none of the specifications given could survive an environment like that of Hagalaz."

"Thank you EDI," Marcus dismissed, and the AI vanished, everyone turning back to Liara, who shook her head, facing Marcus with an uncertain look.

"We're going to be flying in blind, Shepard," Liara declared, crossing her arms, "We have no idea what type of ship the Broker could be using, and we don't know if it has defenses or kinetic barriers."

"And I don't feel safe taking the Normandy into Hagalaz. Plus the climate and the unknown defenses we could be dealing with, its just too risky," Marcus faced everyone once, and let out a drawn out sigh. He tried to think of ways to enter Hagalaz's atmosphere and quickly turned to Liara, an idea in his mind, "Liara, what if we took the shuttle?"

Jacob piped up, suddenly reaching the conclusion Marcus had, "Yes! The kodiak shuttle is rated for deep-sea, harsh climate and all-temperature traversal. It would still be a bumpy ride, but it can be done!"

Marcus seemed to contemplate the idea for a second, "We'd all have to insert in the one shuttle, you know that right? We only have one, and if we lose it...I can't risk the Normandy attempting an extraction. I guess we'll have to go with this plan and hope for the best. Besides, if the Broker does have defenses, I doubt he'll have time to activate them by the time the Normandy arrives, deploys us and we land on his ship. We'll take him completely by surprise."

Everyone nodded in agreement, including Liara, who simply gave him an approving nod before clasping her hands behind her back, waiting for a final set of orders. He turned to Tali, who nodded as well and he moved to stand at the table once again, his gaze serious and brokering no argument.

"Then its settled," he declared, "Get ready. On November 12, the Shadow Broker is going down. All of you report to the armoury when we're close to reaching Hagalaz and meet in the shuttle bay. I want us able to deploy as soon as we get there so we can take this piece of shit by total surprise. For now, get some rest and sleep; you'll all need it. Crew, dismissed."

Everyone nodded their affirmation and left the room, Marcus taking Tali's hand and moving to leave the room. Before his feet reached the threshold of the door however, Liara yelled out, bringing him to a stop just as the last person filed out of the room, leaving only him, the young asari, and Tali. He turned to face her.

She fiddled with her hands, much like Tali used to, "I...please. This assault...I need to know it'll work. All my hard work for this moment...I need to know Feron's going to be okay. I need to know we'll win."

He smiled warmly at her, "We'll rescue Feron and we'll destroy the Broker once and for all. Despite all our grievances, you have my word on that, Liara. Now, go get some rest. You'll need it for the battle ahead."

She gave a quick nod and filed out of the room, rushing past them. He simply smiled at her retreating form before Tali began tugging at him to follow her to the elevator. He let his wife guide him along as he was left with his thoughts.

_Say your prayers, Broker. Cause I won't hold back._

_I'm going to end you._

**{Loading...}**

_November 12, 2185_

_1728 hours._

_The Shadow Broker's Office, Halcyon-Class Prototype, Hagalaz Storm Center, Hagalaz._

_The Shadow Broker._

The Shadow Broker, in all his glory, sat before his computer terminal, imputting new data as he sent it off to the latest agent to request a field status update on Korlus. Being the Broker in all its entirety was hard work, especially without the quarian bitch in control, but at least he  _was_ in control. He wasn't a pet, he was the master. An entire information empire at his finger tips, and it all belonged to him. Knowledge was power, and he was the most powerful man in the galaxy.

Finishing the message he sent it, laying back in his seat and stretching, only to stop when his seat began creaking. He would need to send a request for a new one soon, and he would need a much bigger terminal to suit his bigger fingers. His body was built for killing and warfare, not for this job. But at the moment, it didn't matter. He wondered if his teams in Nos Astra had killed Shepard and Tali yet...

His terminal beeped with a message and he immediately moved in closer to open it, his smug grin dropping when he read the message's contents, and a glare of anger grew on his face. It was followed by a furious roar as his clenched fist smashed the terminal into bits of metal and he suffered a brief electric shock, but he ignored it. He removed his hand, showing the dent in the desk that was what was left of his personal terminal. He got up from his desk, and faced the door at the end of the room. The entrance to his office.

They had failed. Two squads of soldiers and a gunship against two unarmed people in civilian garb who were completely unprepared. But apparently he had underestimated the couple; and all he had to show for it was a destroyed apartment with twenty-four dead soldiers and the smoldering ruins of a gunship. At least the Illusive Man would suffer the failure as much as he did.

But that could only mean one thing now; Commander Shepard and the Normandy was coming. And he had to be ready.

But he also needed help.

He turned to his terminal, hitting the contact information for the Illusive Man. He waited a few seconds before a volume measurement bar appeared and the leader of Cerberus' voice came through the channel, "Shadow Broker, what can I do for you now? Before you say anything; I was already informed of the failure at the MesoReso Hotel."

"Indeed," the Shadow Broker growled, "Shepard is coming for me. As much as I find our alliance tense at the moment, I have no choice but to ask for your help, as much as it grates me to say it. I'm sending you the location of my base now; Shepard won't expect Cerberus intervention," he uploaded the coordinates into the message and sent it, continuing to speak as he did, "You can have a cruiser sent. Hide, and while his team are deployed, surprise and destroy the frigate, and my men will deal with Shepard and his team. It won't fail. We can crush Shepard in one swift-"

"I believe our alliance is at a close Shadow Broker," The Illusive Man interrupted, the sound of smoke floating by heard clearly through the communication, and he froze at the human's words, "As is your life, it would seem."

He growled louder this time, "Are you...? You can't just abandon me now! After all I've helped you with, this is how you turn me away? When I'm done with Shepard, his quarian pet and T'Soni, I will find you Illusive Man, and I will squeeze the life out of your pathetic little sack of a body."

The Illusive Man never laughs, but he swore he heard it in the background as the leader of Cerberus' spoke once more, "You wouldn't need Cerberus' help if you were confident you could take down Shepard, Shadow Broker. And while I will admit you were a tremendous help to our cause, you were a means to an end; and those means, of course, must have an end themselves. This is the end; or for you, at least."

He fumed, "You need me! You may have the military strength, but you need my network!"

There was a hesitation on the other side of the line, followed by the Illusive Man's calm voice, "While your information network is far superior to mine, that will soon change. Cerberus' is sophisticated enough to develop on its own, and with yours out of the way, it will give room for mine to grow and become stronger than yours. To face facts, Shadow Broker, I simply have no use for you anymore, and with that, I'm going to terminate this alliance. I wish you luck eliminating Shepard; you will truly need it."

Before he could sputter a single word more, the Illusive Man cut the comm link, and the room went silent once more. He simply stood there, unbelieving of the situation.  _Cerberus has turned its back on me; what allies do I have left to turn to but my own?_

With an angry growl, he prepared to break the desk in two, only for a second communique to come in, this one from one of his sensor specialists on the very ship he  _stood on._ With a look mixed of shock and anger, he connected the call, and he spoke.

"This is the Shadow Broker," he spoke, "What is it, Pev?"

"Sir, we have a proximity warning! Its them!" the salarian shouted in fear, "The Normandy just appeared in orbit and has already deployed a shuttle; its entering the atmosphere and heading straight for us! What should I do!? I mean, how the hell did they find us!?"

He snarled, almost breaking the terminal as he leant against it, "What  _you_ should do," he spat, "Is gather your weapons and prepare to defend this base; you will die defending it, you hear me? No retreat will be allowed! And don't even think of fleeing, because there is nowhere you can go on this ship where I won't find you."

The salarian gulped, "Y-y-yes sir, very well sir. Received well, Shadow Broker."

"And how they found us is of no consequence now, only that they have," the Broker growled, "Now get to it!" With that, he disconnected the comms and activated the ship wide PA system, speaking as he did, "All squads within the ship are to report to your battlestations immediately; this is not a drill! We have been found by Spectre Marcus Shepard, and he his deploying forces to attack this vessel; you are to defend it at all costs! Noone budges from their job! I want Squad Delta, Meta, Sigma and Hammer at my office now; defend it with your very lives! Squad Goblin and Royce are to head to the detainment center and defend it; If T'Soni wants Feron, she'll have to fight for it. All squads trained in EVA combat are to report to the exterior hull to repel boarders. Noone retreats, and you are to shoot to kill. No mercy, no quarter. Shadow Broker out."

Disabling the PA system, he practically heard the ship roar to life as soldiers moved to and from their stations to prepare for the boarding action, and all the Broker could do was watch the screens before him as agents from all over the galaxy began requesting status updates. Switching them off for now, he crouched below his desk and acquired his M-76 Revenant Light Machine Gun, and fastened it to his back, followed by his N7 Typhoon Anti-Personnel Assault Cannon; a special weapon he had acquired to the heavy firepower it packed. He placed that specific weapon on his main desk and stood there, equipping his omni-tool and making sure his omni-shield was in full operation. He would also fight to the death.

He could feel the quarian bitch's smug eyes on his back, but he ignored them as he sat behind his main desk, a solemn look of determination on his face as he clasped his hands ontop of it, waiting for Shepard and his men.

He would kill the man himself if that's what it took.

**{Loading...}**

_November 12, 2185_

_1731 hours._

_Bow Section/Exterior, Halcyon-Class Prototype, Hagalaz Storm Center, Hagalaz._

_Commander Marcus Lee Shepard, Chief Engineer Tali'Shepard vas Normandy, Gunnery Master Garrus Vakarian, Master Thief Kasumi Goto, Professor Mordin Solus, Major General Kal'Reegar vas Normandy, Staff Commander Kaidan Alenko, First Lieutenant Jacob Taylor, Assassin Thane Krios, Justicar Samara, Soldier Urdnot Grunt, Subject Zero Jack, Legion, Information Broker Liara T'Soni, Chieftain Urdnot Wrex._

The kodiak shook violently as they descended upon the Shadow Broker's vessel, and from first glance, it was quite a garguantuan starship; it easily dwarfed the Everest-Class Dreadnought, and was practically the same size as a Reaper. It was of unusual design though; he didn't recognize the architecture, but it was very spartan; most of the edges looked ruggard, and the top of the vessel was covered in solar-panel looking pieces of plating that flapped up and down, and the stern of the ship had two huge wings that spread out and, attached to one, was six sets of massive solar-panel looking appendages; three on top arching upwards in a diagonal fashion, and the same below, except facing downwards. Overall, an awkward design, but a huge vessel of unknown purpose.

The kodiak buckled once more as heavy winds tossed it about. The inside of Hagalaz's storm center was like the eye of hurricane; black clouds were located all over the place, with flashes of yellow and white color where the Sowilo sun tried to break through the cloud cover; and surrounding them was the constant flashes of thunder and lightning, nonstop, like a storm that never ended. But the more he examined it; the more it seemed the lightning seemed to be magnetically attached to the solar-panels; everytime lightning struck near the ship, it seemed to always hit the solar-panels, and they just absorbed it.

_Maybe the ship's power is based off the electric power they absorb from the constant lightning strikes? Clever. Its clear to me how they managed to survive in an atmosphere like this now._

The shuttle was pretty much jammed pack, especially with all the new visitors like Wrex, Kal and Madi jammed into the small space. But the crampedness they felt now would be alleviated when their squad-sized unit of elite badasses wreaked havok on the Shadow Broker's troops.

Speaking of them, he watched a sniper shot ping off the shuttle's hull, followed by two more, and another four. Knowing that the Broker's forces were now launching their defense in full strength, he slammed his fist into the bulkhead seperating them from the pilot telling her to bring them in and deploy them quickly before they bring out the big guns.

It wasn't long before the kodiak hovered over the base's exterior hull on the bow section, and the shuttle door opened, Marcus moving quickly as he landed on the ground before the shuttle was blown away from its stationary position. He was quickly followed by the rest of the squad, who quickly opened fire on the converging Shadow Broker forces, trying to keep them back while their full force deploys.

Three missiles erupt from their ranks and try to impact the kodiak, but the wind sends them flying in all directions, and the kodiak shoots away unharmed, making its return to the Normandy in the safety of orbit. Marcus, helmet fully sealed, turned to his team, "Grunt, Wrex, Kal and Thane, you're with me, push up the left! The rest of you try to push through the middle! Try and break their ranks! If you see their commander, take him or out on sight! Let's move! Push 'em back!"

A hail of gunfire was exchanged between both forces, barely heard over the roar of the wind racing past them; even Marcus' internal heating systems were barely keeping up with the cold that was seeping inside his armor. But he pushed on; his pulse rifle raised and buckling as he pulled the trigger multiple times, his first burst ripping into the skull of one unlucky human soldier who hadn't had his shields up and causing his body to thump onto the steel hull of the ship.

"Which one of you pyjaks wants to play!?" Wrex challenged over the comms and he turned just in time to see the krogan rip the throat of a krogan out with his bare hands, before tossing his mangled body into the wind, orange blood flying all over the place, before he moved on to raise his claymore, blasting another krogan's torso into painted gore on a strut poking out of the hull.

With Kal and Thane at his side, he pushed forward; Wrex and Grunt already having taken point and spearheaded their eventual assault. With the force of a freight train, the small squad assaulted the Shadow Broker's men from the left, taking them offguard as they tried to compensate for the unexpected attack.

Two turians activated omni-shields and crouched, entering a riot guard formation as they acted as barricades, four human soldiers taking cover behind them and taking potshots at Marcus' team.  _Oh no you don't, assholes._ Motioning to Kal, the quarian marine quickly unhooked his missile launcher from his back, took aim at a spot inbetween the shields, and fired.

The rocket hit dead center in the middle, the wind not blowing it away due to the fact it was flying  _into_ the wind, not  _away_ from it. It slowed the projectile, but they still didn't see it until the white flash overcame them, tearing the right leg and arm off the left turian and sending him flying into the wind, screaming hopelessly as he was blown away to his death. The second turian suffered a similiar fate, but was sniped. Marcus, turning to see who had done it, grinned when he saw Garrus give him a mock salute before returning to leading his team in their fight down the enemy center.

His pulse rifle barked once more, tearing through the shields of one soldier before he could return fire. The man managed to get off a single shot from his carnifex at Grunt, the shot bouncing off the krogan's armor, before his pulse rifle barked again, piercing the man's helmet and blasting his brain asunder, painting the interior in dark, opaque red.

Diving forwards, with his pulse rifle in one hand and his newly equipped Locust SMG in another, he took aim at two more of the soldiers and fired again. The pulse rifle tore into one woman's torso, causing her to lose her grip on her grenade launcher and drop it into the winds to speed away, while his SMG only need one bullet; that bullet quickly tearing through the man's throat and out the other side, rupturing his oesophagus. Red blood geysered out of the hole and the man choked on his own blood.

Groaning, the woman drew her omni-blade and managed to roll out of the way of another burst from his rifle, only to run into Thane, who quickly grabbed the sides of her head and snapped it cleanly. The last trooper attempted to hit Thane in the head with his pistol, but was stopped short of the attempt as Kal's shot pierced him straight through the skull, killing him instantly.

A roar of defiance echoed from his side and he turned just in time for an asari to land behind him, her hand swatting away his SMG arm and moving to punch him in the stomach. He was winded from the blow, but quickly recovered, dodging a kick to the groin and countering by his rifle as a club, catching her in the side of the head and knocking her back.

Growling, she turned back to face him again, only to disappear as Wrex rammed into her, crushing her tiny form against the bulkhead behind them, and if it hadn't been for space, they would have heard alot of breaking bones. Wrex retreated, shooting a solemn nod in Marcus' direction before they returned to their battle.

Holstering his SMG and rifle, he equipped his claymore shotgun and pushed forward once more, coming up behind the forces Garrus and his squad had so eagerly distracted. They were thinning due to the number of troops under Garrus' command; and only a squad of them remained; they also wouldn't see Marcus and his team coming.

Liara launched a singularity directly at them, but another asari managed to combat it by detonating it in mid air with a warp field, sending some of Garrus' men flying back, with Kasumi and Jacob losing balance for half a second before getting back up. Tali, behind cover at the time, chose to reveal herself and blasted a sizable chunk out of an asari's hipbone, causing her to cry out in pain before an incineration slammed into her body, ending her in an instant, Mordin raising his SMG to finish off the turian behind her burning cadaver.

Legion's widow barked its war cry, a shot of pure armor-piercing death leaving one salarian a wrecked mess of meat and blood. His other salarian comrade managed to deploy his combat drone before meeting his fate at the hands of Samara's reave, while his combat drone quickly found itself in battle with Tali's Chiktika; who quickly won the battle.

Kal emerged an unsuspecting turian and slammed his foot into the back of his leg, causing him to fall to his knees. Before he could cry out, Kal's omni-blade activated and arched across his neck, blue blood spilling into Hagalaz's atmosphere before the quarian kicked the body down onto the ground, before it was taken by the wind.

Marcus' claymore joined with Grunt's as it coughed out a shell of mutilating terror, his shot reducing one krogan's head to a stump while Grunt's seemed to hit an unsuspecting human biotic in the torso, lifting him from the ground before spilling his guts into the air. Garrus' team quickly found themselves gagging when said guts blew in the wind and slammed into their bodies, covering them in red, human intestines and blood.

It quickly turned into a slaughter house. The Shadow Broker's men began a tactical retreat, with two salarians using what looked to be two jet thrusters attached to their boots to fly them onto the upper deck, before they then ran away. Another turian attempted to follow, but was stopped when one of those thrusters was wrecked from a shot by Thane's phalanx, the soldier quickly meeting his demise as Wrex knocked away his phaeston and clasped a talon around his head, crushing it in his bare hands and covering his armor in quickly drying blue blood.

The rest of the enemy squad didn't fare much better; and they were quickly disposed of and they all grouped around the end of the first bulkhead; a long section of the ship covering the length of the ship's 'keel' and riddled with alot of those lightning absorbing panels he saw upon landing.

Due to the fact they couldn't hear each other of the sounds of the wind roaring by, they were forced to resort to comms. Garrus spoke first, the blank expression of his helmet's visor facing Marcus, "They'll be regrouping soon, Marcus. Might be best if we strike soon."

"Agreed," he replied, turning to the group, "We'll continue the push; whatever you do, don't let up. Don't let them regroup, reload or get a breather; show them how relentless you are, and show no mercy. We take no prisoners here," he had a plan, and he knew how he wanted it to go. Turning back to Garrus, he gave the turian a singular look. It was one the turian understood well, and he nodded, Marcus turning to face Tali, "We're going to be going into two teams; the assault team and the infiltration team. Tali, I'm putting you in charge of the assault team. I'll command the infiltration team."

Tali clearly had objections, "No, I'm going with you."

"I can look after myself Tali," he replied, "I want you leading the assault team; you can lead a team, and think of it...you get to boss Garrus around," the turian seemed to gulp behind his helmet, and he took pleasure in the turian's discomfort.

"Uh...fine," Tali glared at him, pointing a demanding finger, "But you better stay safe. If I find out you died, I'll bring you back just to kill you again."

He chuckled, nodding as he turned to his team, "Liara, you're with me. I'll also take Jack, Legion and Kaidan. The rest of you are with Tali. The assault team will engage the Shadow Broker's main force and keep them busy; push towards the coordinates Liara has transmitted, but all the while, act as the delaying force. I want you to wither down as many of these bastards as you can. Infiltration team will skirt around them and head straight for the coordinates; we'll try and have it open by the time you get there."

"Have what open? What are the coordinates, battlemaster?" Grunt asked.

He nodded to Liara, who began to explain through her transparent visor, "There are many airlocks on the ship, but most of them are only accessible to maintenance drones, and others are essentially manholes, which are too small for krogan, and even if they weren't, it would take too long for the entire squad to file in one by one. However, the main airlock is located a hundred meters astern, and is big enough to fit a Mako through. Its got heavy encryption, but we just happen to have three of the best hackers in the galaxy," the asari smiled, obviously referring to Kasumi, Tali and Legion.

"There we go then," he turned back to his wife, "Your team will keep them distract whilst simultaneously exhausting their strength, while my team sneaks around. Understood?"

Everyone nodded and began to move out, but Tali moved up to Marcus, pulling his head down so she could tap her visor against his. Keeping their masks together, she whispered into their private channel, "Please stay safe. I love you."

He smiled weakly and patted her shoulder, "I'll be fine. I love you too, honey. This'll be over in no time. Now let's go kick the Shadow Broker's ass."

She smiled behind her mask, pulling away as her geth plasma shotgun folded into her hands, "Yes sir!" With that, she marched off, barking at her team to assemble and began assigning them positions in the march. Sparing her one final glance, he turned back around and moved towards where Liara, Jack and Kaidan were already waiting.

"If we're finished with all the kissing and hugging bullshit, can we be fucking going?" Jack asked, almost demanding it, "I want to butt some more heads together."

"We are here to rescue Feron and take down the Broker," Liara snarled at her, clearly not in the mood for jokes and entertainment, "Nothing more. This isn't a game, convict."

Jack shot her a glare but just laughed, "Don't be such a pus-oh, shit. Well, don't be such a spoiled fucking brat. I'm just saying. Besides, I didn't say I didn't want to butt the Broker's head. He'll be the real fun one, I tell ya."

Before Liara could retort, Kaidan quickly spoke up, "Can we please get going? Feron isn't going to rescue himself while you two settle your differences on military discipline. I believe we should use the distraction Tali is giving us while we can."

Marcus nodded, turning to the group before slamming a fresh thermal clip into his claymore, "Then let's get this shit done; Kaidan, Legion, take point. Jack, Liara, with me, cover my flanks. I'll take the middle. Push forward, rapid but steady. Don't engage hostiles unless necessary; don't want to attract unwanted attention. If something needs to be hacked, please don't blow it apart, and just have Liara hack it."

Jack gave a mock groan, "You're such a pussy, Shepard."

He grinned, "Just being cautious, Jack."

The convict smiled, equipping her batarian-made raider shotgun whilst looking ahead, "Caution is for pussies. I'm more of a risk-taker."

He shook his head, ignoring Liara's impatient glare whilst motioning for Kaidan to move up, the alliance marine having already raised his avenger assault rifle and moving ahead. Legion merely equipped its geth pulse rifle in silence, moving in tandem with Kaidan's long strides. Marcus quietly followed, with Jack on his left, and Liara on his right. The area ahead looked clear, and they pushed on, bullets whizzing by giving evidence to the fight that raged on their left.

The Broker would have to fight for every inch of hull his organization held.

But that organization was going up in flames pretty damn soon.

**{Loading...}**

_November 12, 2185_

_1758 hours._

_Main Airlock/Exterior, Halcyon-Class Prototype, Hagalaz Storm Center, Hagalaz._

_Commander Marcus Lee Shepard, Information Broker Liara T'Soni, Subject Zero Jack, Staff Commander Kaidan Alenko, Legion._

"Hey Liara!" He yelled over the gunfire, his rifle barking once more and impacting the shields of an advancing salarian engineer, delaying his advance before he was forced back into cover, his rifle ejecting the spent clip before he then retrieved a fresh one and slipped it into the open chamber. He didn't even turn as he spoke.

"What!? I'm kinda busy!" She yelled back from her position across from him, the asari barely able to hold her own as she augmented Kaidan's biotic attack against a krogan with her own biotics, sending the krogan soldier flying off the deck to be claimed by the raging winds.

He grinned as he replied, nostalgia slipping into the moment, "Remember those times when you could just slap omni-gel on everything!?" He chuckled inwardly, making reference to the days before his death where omni-gel was essentially used my mechanics to fix everything in seconds. It was now, unfortunately, illegal. It was originally produced for the military, and since all the major suppliers stopped manufacturing it upon the One Hundred and Ninth Amendment to the Citadel Conventions, the military stopped getting it, and so did everyone else. Eventually, purchasing it from buyers on Omega just became too costly and people just stopped doing it. Alot had changed in the two years he was dead, indeed.

To his relief, Liara laughed as she yelled back, "Yes, that security upgrade made alot of people  _ **very**_ unhappy!"

He chuckled as he raised his head once more, his rifle bumping the same engineer in the chest; who had advanced and had been moving to leap over Marcus' cover, only to bump into his rifle. Without hesitation, he pulled the trigger and the salarian's spleen popped open like a melon, green blood flying into the wind and the salarian's dead body with it. Good riddance, he thought.

Jack was suddenly at his side, a biotic shockwave tossing two turians and two humans flying into multiple directions as she crouched down next to him, "Well, this is fucking fun! Any idea when buckethead and her platoon of goodies turn up? I'm getting a little fucking tired of these cunts currently throwing themselves into my little meat grinder."

He peaked over the barricade to see yet another six soldiers seemingly appearing out of nowhere, the Shadow Broker almost seeming to have an inexhaustible supply of troops. He took aim and fired a contained burst, managing to gain a headshot on one unlucky salarian before he fell back into cover, turning to face Jack.

He nodded to her, "Get back to your corner and cover it; I don't want any holes left unturned," one hand moved to his earpiece, "I'll see what's holding them."

She nodded, growling as she formed a flare and threw it into the approaching five, easily decimating them in a single shot. He gave her a deadpan expression, to which she just laughed at before running off back to her corner, shotgun barking at a few of the Broker's men who tried to get over her barricade and failed.

"Tali, what's the hold up? We've got the Broker's men swarming over us, and we can't hold them forever," he demanded, peaking to see six more soldiers arriving, and he simply ignored them, hiding back behind cover while letting his biotics simmer and flow over his body.

Tali's voice replied in an instant, the sound of her shotgun spewing death easily heard in the background along with the hiss of the wind, "We're just mopping up now! They had us pinned for a moment, but Kal and Jacob managed to relieve the right flank. We're pressing up towards you now; what's your status!? Are you okay?"

"I'm fine. We're all fine," he replied hurriedly, standing up and letting loose a biotic shockwave off his own, staggering the enemy long enough for his one arm to raise his rifle and fire, hitting a turian in the foot and causing him to yelp in pain as he fell to the ground, while his second burst pinged off the biotic field of an asari. A horde of fire poured into his shields, and they broke just as he moved into cover, "We're at the airlock and awaiting a relief party. They're coming from all sides periodically, and always in groups of six. Its a battle of attrition, Tali."

"We'll be there soon; ETA is two mikes," she replied, "Hold fast and we'll help. Love you, Tali out."

He nodded and disconnected the comm, turning to where Legion held the door, its optics scanning the area ahead of it as it cradled its Widow anti-material rifle like the precision weapon it was; it was delicate, but also a weapon of pure gore-inducing destruction. It wasn't any WMD, but it was definitely powerful. And to think it was a quarian weapon.  _Maybe Legion uses it out of symbolic significance?_

He called out to the geth, "Legion, you see anything!"

"We are currently processing a warning to Jack-Zero. One moment," it then spoke, without even turning to the convict, "Jack-Zero, two hostile combatants have broken through your defenses are proceeding to flank. We are engaging."

With speed incapable of organics, the geth infiltrator spun on the spot, its rifle firing its cannon-like projectile almost as soon as the synthetic turned, and the sound of Jack's 'fuck yeah!' meant that the shot had hit its target; not surprising for a geth as accurate as Legion was. The geth took a moment to fold back the chamber of the weapon and slot in a fresh thermal clip, this one glowing more than standard ones and much bigger, before folding the chamber back into place, lowering the weapon and firing again. Both targets down, it repeated the process of reloading, and returned to its sentinel state, speaking to Marcus as it did.

"Yes, Shepard-Commander?"

He spoke quickly, "I was going to ask if you could see anything, but apparently you've already answered that question."

Its head flaps quivered, "We do not understand. You have not voiced your inquiry, and we have not verbally replied to the specified question. We do not understand how it is possible to have-"

"Metaphor, Legion," he interrupted, turning back to the enemy, "Metaphor."

"We will process this new information," the geth responded, "Organics are strange creatures."

He almost guffawed at the statement, as it didn't sound very geth like at all, but was suddenly face-to-face with a turian's phaeston. His omni-blade appeared in moments and he slashed upwards, cutting the weapon clean in half. With the turian holding nothing but a pistol-sized chunk of rifle in his hand, he had nothing to defend himself with and was quickly ended by the same omni-blade stabbing him through the eye.

Releasing his dead attacker, he turned back to his enemies and gunned them down as they tried to rush his position in a suicidal manner, giving up on all form of tactics just for a chance to delay their advance into the ship. With all enemies taken out, and another six bound to arrive, he ducked back behind the barricade.

Liara, her SMG firing once more and hitting a pylon, the lightning electricity collected inside spilling out and eviscerating the soldiers around it, frying them into blackened corpses before she took cover once more, yelled across the field, shaking her head, "If they grouped up and attacked at once, they'd be much more effective!"

He groaned, a biotic blast of energy blasting from his fist as he grabbed one salarian around the waist with a biotic 'lasoo' and pulled him towards him, allowing him to then proceed in ramming his rifle into the bottom of the salarian's chin and blast a shot clean through his head, dropping his dead body. He didn't even turn to Liara as he prepared to deal with the other five hostiles, "Liara, please don't give the mercs ideas!"

She almost turned towards him at that, "What!? Its true!"

"They don't need to know that! The last thing we need is them swamping us!"

"That actually doesn't sound like a-" before the turian could finish his sentence, Legion's widow barked once more, reducing him to red waste. The geth's response was immediate as it spoke.

"T'Soni-Broker should refrain from releasing critical mission tactical data to enemy forces. Not only does it result in stronger strength and troop movement, but it will also result in a collaborative overwhelming of our position."

"You heard it from the geth, Liara!" he shouted, "Lets just wait for Tali to arrive before we start giving them ideas on how to beat us!"

Liara was about to reply when the fresh wave moving to attack her was suddenly gunned down in a wave of gunfire. Before she could wonder who did it, Garrus leapt from the side, his mattock spitting bullets as he ran behind Liara's cover, followed by Jacob and Kal. Tali appeared next to Kasumi, both of them ignoring the Shadow Broker's men. It wasn't long before the rest of the cavalry arrived, all of them spilling into the small area and assisting in holding off the enemy troops.

Tali and Kasumi arrived at his side, and Tali reached to hug him, but he waved her off, "There's time for reunions later! Go with Legion and get that damn door open! We've only got so many thermal clips, and we're not even inside yet!"

Tali nodded and with Kasumi they got up and rushed towards Legion. Noticing their presence, the geth nodded and holstered its sniper rifle, following the two hackers as they approached the main airlock and disappeared behind one of the bulkheads concealing it, beginning their hack.

He shouted to his team, "I'm in command again, and our three geniuses need time to hack through the lock; we're going to give them that time! Give them everything you have! Remember, no quarter, no mercy!"

The next few minutes felt like forever as the Shadow Broker's mercenaries relentlessly assaulted them from all directions, absolutely non-stop throwing themselves at their defenses like they didn't value life anymore. But they continued to chew through thermal clips taking them down, and after what felt like an eternity, Tali yelled over the comms.

"The airlock is open! Everybody inside, quickly! MOVE!" He didn't need to be told twice, and he began a steady retreat towards the door, firing as he did, whilst the rest of the defenders did the same thing. He moved down the ramp leading into the airlock and into the long, wide corridor connecting to it; Tali, Kasumi and Legion already waiting for him and everyone else as they all fell back inside the complex.

The gunfire continued to dance around them until the last team member was inside, and Tali slammed the door shut, closing it just as the Shadow Broker forces moved to pursue them, shutting them off. Everyone blew a collective sigh of relief; everyone, that is, except Grunt, Wrex and Legion; the latter being incapable of it, and the two formers just standing stoically.

He turned to look down the corridor, but not before he slotted a fresh clip into his weapon and nodded to Liara, who nodded back. He kept moving his eyes around the corridor, making sure each and every member of his squad was okay. Satisfied, he turned to Tali and gave her the hug she deserved, before turning to look down the corridor, weapon raised.

The ramp lead further down and as they reached the bottom, they found an extremely long corridor stretching across the area; it was at least forty meters in length. It went up and down with multiple stairs, and cabling hung from the ceiling; the walls reminding him eerily of the bland, red and brown walls of Omega's streets. Dim, yellow light poured in through the sides of the walls, illuminating the spartan interior, and every step they took seemed to echo throughout the hallway.

And when he said that, he didn't mean just theirs. He could hear multiple footsteps heading towards them from the end of the corridor at a very fast pace; and in an instant, he knew who they were. He motioned to his team to follow him as they pushed forward, while Garrus, Thane and Legion stayed behind to provide sniper fire.

Slowly, they moved down the corridor, and the footsteps got louder and louder. And just as they reached the twenty-four meter mark, they appeared.

A salarian soldier, tech armor encasing his form in an orange glow and with a Tempest SMG in hand, rounded the corner, followed by two human troopers in the same black armor, carrying avenger assault rifles, both of them male. A female human rounded the corner holding a missile launcher, at three turian troopers also rounded the corner, carrying turian phaeston rifles.

The salarian was obviously the leader of the group, and ordered his men to enter position silently, and the two humans, flanking the doorway, immediately opened fire on his team, followed by the three turians. The field of fire was quickly augmented as the female took aim with her launcher and fired, blue light streaking towards them at high speed.

With impecable accuracy, Tali targetted the missile and fired her overload program at it, causing it to explode midair. The heat swamped over him, but quickly ignored it as he dropped into cover, Tali beside him, as they all returned fire at the enemy.

Garrus' Reaper sniper rifle boomed and a round went straight through the female's eye, blasting her brains out the back of her head and coating her fellow turian's face in red gore. The launcher fell from her grip and onto the floor, followed by her dead body.

Finally able to use grenades without worrying about the wind, he tore one from his bandolier and primed it, tossing it in their hostiles' general direction. He waited for a bang before leaping from cover and taking aim.

The smoke cleared to show that the soldiers had taken cover from the blast, only for Liara to land a clean headshot on one turian with her SMG. Kal's rifle fired off its own bark, and hit one turian in the shields, only for the quarian to be forced back into cover by the second human soldier. Growling, Wrex's body glowed in biotic brilliance and he sucked the human out of his cover, dumping infront of the krogan's form, where he was quickly finished off by Wrex painting the floor with his brains; using his foot to crush the man's skull. The krogan let out a chuckle, before rejoining the fight.

Thane's viper fired and hit the first human repeatedly in his shields, only for the man to retailate with further gunfire. However, Thane's shots had forced him out of cover, and after taking his shields down, Mordin hit him with a cryo blast, freezing his body into a solid block of ice, before shooting one final shot, blasting him into little tiny ice fragments.

One turian dropped his weapon and charged Jack unsuspectedly with an omni-blade over his head, and almost brought it down on her skull, but was instead tackled by Samara out of the way. Getting up, he growled and moved to stab her, but was instead met by a massive force of biotic power slamming him into the ground, pinning him there where Samara then proceeded to snap his neck, where she ended the stasis field. Jack gave the asari an appreciative look, and the justicar seemed to smile, and Marcus got the feeling those two were closer than he thought.

The last turian charged forward, his salarian commander deploying his combat drone while launching multiple incineration programs from his twin omni-tools to keep the squad at bay, clearly calling for reinforcements. The third turian was quickly ended by Jacob as the man suddenly appeared, elbowing him in the face and causing him to double back before shoving his shotgun into his abdomen and pulling the trigger, ripping the turian's stomach wide open.

The salarian squad leader panicked, now seeing his team had been completely decimated. He turned to run, only to bump into Kasumi, who had suddenly decloaked. She waved cheerily at him with a warm grin before it turned into a solemn look and a knife extended from her sleeve, where she then proceeded to slice the salarian's throat open, the thief standing out of the way to let the green blood pour onto the ground. His tech armor evaporated, and his body slumped to the ground.

Kasumi waved them over, and all team members appeared at the end of the corridor. Marcus was about to bark out fresh orders when a rough, deep voice, obviously masked, spoke over the PA.

"All squads, Shepard and his team have breached the main airlock and are most likely on their way to the detention center," the growling voice spoke, "Squads Goblin and Royce are to hold that area at all costs; All other squads not currently in operation are to head for the main airlock and eliminate Shepard's team by any means necessary. Shadow Broker out."

Kasumi grimaced, speaking in a mockingly surprised voice, "So that's the Broker...such a scary fella. Do you think he likes japanese girls with a penchant of kleptomania? No, wouldn't think so."

Liara shook her head, "He said something about the detention center; that's got to be where Feron is!" She raced to move forward, but his arm shot out, halting her advance. She turned to look him, objection in her eyes, but she also saw what was in Shepard's eyes.

"The Broker is expecting us to try and rescue Feron," he spoke strongly, "We go rushing in there, and he'll be ready. We need a distraction," he turned to his team, "Garrus, take a team and hold this position; I want you to keep the Broker's men busy thinking we are still pinned here, while the rest of us follow me and head for the detention center. Liara, access the ship's mainframe and download the schematics of the ship."

The asari nodded, heading over to a nearby wall terminal and immediately beginning to access it. Garrus quickly nodded, turning to the squad available, "Jacob, Kaidan and...," his gaze lingered over a certain thief before nodding, "...Kasumi, you'll be staying behind with me and providing a diversion."

"Why thank you, Mr. Vakarian," Kasumi slyly replied, brushing past him, a coy smile on her face. He chuckled at the two of them; they were just like him and Tali. It was only a matter of time before Marcus was the best man for Garrus and Kasumi's wedding.  _Really? You're really confident on a relationship between a detective and a thief working, aren't you?_ He laughed lightly at that thought, shaking it away quickly as he turned back to Liara.

"Find anything?"

She nodded, turning from the terminal, "I've got the schematics on my omni-tool now. Uploading it to everyone else's...now," and with that, everyone's omni-tools beeped, but only Marcus opened his, bringing up the schematics for the colossal vessel. _Why is the final battle always somewhere massive? First the Citadel, then the Collector Base, and even the Shadow Broker's base is huge!_

"There," he pointed to the holographic display, "The detention center is located 150 meters from this current position, further aft of the vessel. It looks like...what used to be some sort of laboratory, but they seemed to have repurposed it."

"I also discovered that this ship is a Halcyon-Class Prototype. For what, I can't tell exactly, but it seems to be the result of a Council attempt at experimenting with storm patterns and trying to create a vessel that cope with such conditions, with the intent of using it as a weather gathering ship, an expeditionary vessel, and, to my surprise, a possible traversal into the galactic core," Liara surmised, "It had alot of Salarian Union funding, and was completed, but never deployed."

He raised an eyebrow at her, "Why wasn't it deployed?"

She looked at him with a grim look, "Because one of the project leads decided to steal it for her own selfish gain."

Marcus hit an epiphany in an instant, "The Shadow Broker."

Liara nodded, "Exactly. Says here that the project lead was a salarian female, but that can't be accurate, as a salarian's lifespan is only 40 years at maximum, and the Shadow Broker has been around for at least a thousand years."

He motioned for the squad to get moving, deactivating his omni-tool as he brought his weapon to bear, taking point, "Maybe the Shadow Broker isn't an individual; maybe its a title. Something that's inherited."

"That's the most logical conclusion," Liara gulped, "...which begs the question? Just who is the Broker now, and just how powerful are they?"

"Powerful enough to own an empire such as the one he owns now," he responded, "But we debate the semantics of this later. Right now, we've got your boyfriend to rescue. Come on."

And so they continued, into the bowels of the Shadow Broker's headquarters.

To rescue Feron.

**{Loading...}**

_November 12, 2185_

_1832 hours._

_Detention Center, Halcyon-Class Prototype, Hagalaz Storm Center, Hagalaz._

_Commander Marcus Lee Shepard, Chief Engineer Tali'Shepard vas Normandy, Professor Mordin Solus, Major General Kal'Reegar vas Normandy, Assassin Thane Krios, Justicar Samara, Soldier Urdnot Grunt, Subject Zero Jack, Legion, Information Broker Liara T'Soni, Chieftain Urdnot Wrex._

He spun the corner and fired his Locust twice, first hitting the asari in the stomach, catching her offguard, before finishing her off with a shot straight through the throat. Choking on her blood, she fell backwards and wreathed on the ground, gasping for air before Tali moved forward, pistol in hand, and emptied a shot straight her forehead.

A warp field shot forth from Liara's palm and hit a Shadow Broker soldier seeking cover, sending him flying into the deck behind him, splitting the wooden table in half, and causing one large piece to stab through his back. He cried out in pain, only for Jack to shoot forth and reappear infront of him in a flash, obviously having followed Samara's lessons on biotic jumping. With a sadistic smile, she slammed a biotic fist into his face, killing him instantly.

The team moved forward, Wrex in front, as they passed a long observation window allowing a clear view of a chair, and strapped to it, was a drell in a black outfit exactly like Thane's.  _That must be Feron._ They moved up, and to the left was the entrance into Feron's cell, with a desk next to it, terminal lit up and waiting. Another door was at the end of the room, which, according to the schematics, lead to the Shadow Broker's Main Office.  _Perfect._

The chair behind the desk had been wheeled away and Wrex, rolling his eyes, moved over to it and flipped the desk over, revealing the cowering form of female salarian in black uniform; obviously she wasn't a soldier, and just worked for the Broker.

"Please, don't hurt me!" she begged, "I can give you the access codes to the cell! Please, I don't fight for the Broker, I only do cell duty! I'm a caretaker!"

He eyed her suspiciously before nodding his head at the door, "Then unlock it. Liara's come to rescue her friend, and I'm not in the mood for the word no."

She frantically nodded, opening her omni-tool and quickly unlocking the door; the interface turning bright green. Liara, in her frenzy of concern, immediately shot for the door, and she was about to tap the interface when, out of the corner of his eye, he saw the salarian woman pull out a predator pistol and take aim.

He spun on the spot, but never got the chance. A ear-piercing  _ **boom**_ from his right side echoed through the room and the woman flew upwards, her entire torso sheered from the waist up as guts spilled all over the place and she screamlessly slammed into the ceiling and back onto the ground, green blood quickly pooling around her corpse, predator pistol now limp in her fingers. Turning, he saw a grim looking Grunt, who lowered his claymore, reloading it, before meeting his battlemaster's gaze.

"What?" he asked innocently, squaring his broad shoulders, "She was going to shoot. I shot first, and my gun was bigger."

He sighed, shaking his head, before turning back to the cell door; only to find it already open and Liara standing in the middle of the corridor beside it, looking at the person inside, "Feron?"

A voice replied, nowhere near as croaky as Thane's, "L-L-Liara? How the hell-" It was weak; injured. Tired.

He filed in behind her, and saw that they were in a corridor that ran parallel to the cell, to which another observation window blocked them from access, with a control console infront of it. And sitting in the middle of the room was Feron, strapped to a dentist's chair and hooked up to multiple machines; even a few wires were...attached...to the seat...it all clicked together in his mind.

He saw Liara rush for the control console, "Don't worry Feron; I'm going to get you out of here!"

He saw the wires not only attached to the chair, but lead to the console.  _Oh shit..._

Liara reached the console, and both Feron and Marcus shouted at the same time, "No! Don't touch-"

Too late. She hit the release button and it flashed red, letting out a beep. Within a second, jets of electricity shot down the wiring and flowed into the chair Feron was strapped to, the drell's body lighting up in brilliant blue as he screamed out in agony, the electricity flowing through his body for five seconds before concluding, smoke trailing from him. It was no wonder the drell was so tired.

Liara looked at him and tears welled up in her eyes and she looked about to access the console again when Tali placed a hand on her shoulder, "Liara, the console's release button is linked to the torture chair. The Broker never planned to release Feron. If you try to-"

" _ **I know that!**_ " Liara spat, shoving Tali away with her before turning back to the console, switching it off as she began to sob. Marcus went to comfort her, but thought better of it, and he watched Feron out of the corner of his eye, watching her with sadness; Marcus could understand that. It was hard watching your loved one suffer and you couldn't comfort them yourself.

Through her sobs, Liara whimpered, "Why...two years...I waited so long...why can't it...ever be...easy...how do I..."

"Liara," Feron spoke softly, "You can rescue me. You can't use the control console, otherwise I'll just be electricuted, and I don't think I can take much more of that. But there is a way."

"H-h-how?" Liara begged, looking up from her melancholy, wiping the tears from her face and sniffling, showing just how vulnerable she really was.

"The Shadow Broker's office," Feron weakly replied, coughing for a moment, "There's no controls on the station that could release me without sending a shock through me, but the Broker's main office has this...thing in it. I don't know what it is, but if you destroy it, it should release enough energy to cripple the ship's power momentarily and cause a temporary blackout. Its not much, but it is enough time for me to break free of the restraints and escape before the main power comes back online. Its a long shot, but its the only hope I have short of permanently crippling main power."

"I-yes, that sounds like a plan," she shook her head, "But...what do you mean by 'this thing?' Just what is it, exactly?"

"You'll know it when you see it. Its hardly subtle. He has it smack bang...in the middle...of his...office," out of breath, he begins to cough again just as Garrus' voice comes over Marcus' radio.

"Marcus, do you read? Over."

"Solid copy," he replied, "Status?"

"Handling them well; idiots don't have much room to maneveur, and its mainly just us picking them off," he continued with a gruff pause, "That's the good news, but the bad news is that the diversion has stopped working; the Broker knows where you are and has diverted all his forces to stopping you. You've got troopers headed your way, and we can't stop them. What do you want us to do?"

He sighed, turning to his team, before turning back to look at Feron and Liara. Deciding, he spoke, "Follow them, but don't fire on them. I'm going to leave a team at the detention center to keep them busy while I take Liara and two people to deal with the Broker and release Feron. You'll hopefully seal off their escape and get them from behind. Move it Garrus; we're on a clock now."

"Copy Marcus," he replied, "Be careful. The Broker seems to be a nasty guy. You know they're tough when they've got a voice like that."

He grinned, "Big enemies are our forte, Garrus. Just look at the Reapers," a chuckle was his response, "Good luck Garrus. See you soon. Shepard out," he turned back to his team nodding to them. Before he even spoke a word, Tali stepped forward.

"I'm coming with you, no excuses," she stated firmly.

He grinned at her with a raised eyebrow, "Very well, Mrs. Shepard. Jack, you're also with us. Liara is obviously coming with us, so that leaves the rest of you," he looked at them, "You'll hold this position; noone gets through, you got me? We need time to kill the Broker; that's all we need. Without him, their resistance and organization will crumble and we can hopefully find this ship's reactor and detonate it; send this ship skyhigh."

"A great, big explosion," Wrex deadpanned, his signature smirk crossing his maw, "Just like the old days. Wish we had a nuke. Williams would have loved this."

He grinned, "Yes, she definitely would have." He could practically think of what she would say.  _"Sounds just like you to blow up a particulary valuable installation, skipper."_

With a nod, he turned back to Feron, one question stuck in his head as he observed the torture device the drell was trapped in, "Feron...just why would the Broker do this to you?"

"He believes he's...ah...punishing me," he choked out, letting out a cough, "I was once an agent of his, and I betrayed him to help Liara recover your body, and he dishes out severe punishments for treachery."

He nodded, giving Liara a sympathetic gaze before turning back to Feron with a smile, "Well, we'll get you out of here Feron. A friend of Liara's is a friend of mine. I promise you I'll get you out. And I never break my promises."

Feron gave a weak nod, "I believe you. The fact that you fought your way this far shows that my capture was worth it."

Marcus spun on the spot and headed out of the door, Liara laying her glance on her lover for a few more seconds as she prepared to leave. Finally, she nodded at him and moved to leave, and she was heading for the last step when Feron spoke, grabbing her attention as she stopped and turned on him.

"Liara," Feron shouted, "It'll be alright. I know you can do this."

Liara smiled at him, nodding, "Of course I can. I wouldn't have gotten as far as I have if I wasn't."

He nodded, "I..."

"I love you," Liara stated, smiling warmly at him.

He stopped, and he smiled back, this one reaching his eyes, "I love you, too. I'd kiss you, but I'm kinda strapped to this chair. Mind fixing that?"

She giggled, "Oh, I'll do more than that," and with that, she left the room, door sliding shut behind her.

When she arrived, Marcus' team had split, moving into defensive positions. Legion was crouched behind a desk, its Widow rifle lying ontop of its broken surface in a emplacement like fashion. Wrex and Grunt stood in the corridor with the observation window, their claymores out and raised, their bulky forms blocking the hallway. Mordin crouched behind a wall on the left, and Kal stood opposite him, using the door to the cell for cover.

Thane lay prone on the ground, his viper marksman rifle out while Samara stood beside him, prepared to cover him in a biotic field. She eyed Jack with one singular glance and nodded, "Remember child, keep your rage harnessed."

Jack rolled her eyes, "I know, grandma. Stop pestering me."

Samara smiled, "You are not cursing. That is a good sign."

Jack looked shocked and her mouth hung open, as if unable to find a could counterattack, but upon noticing the grin Marcus was shooting her, and that Samara was avoiding her gaze, she snapped out of it, pretending to be angry as she gripped her raider shotgun with increased fervor, "Whatever. Let's just get this shit the fuck over with. I want to see the Broker face to face."

"We'll have to tread carefully," Liara stated, omni-tool alight before her, "The Broker has four squads between us and his forces, and these appear to be his elite troops. We must be cautious."

He gave a final nod to his team, before raising his weapon and palming the door, himself going first and checking the corridor, "Clear," he shouted, and Liara, Tali and Jack quickly filed through, and the door immediately locked, Legion instantly adding a geth firewall to keep any hackers from breaking through the lock. Moving down the corridor, they continued, Jack snorting at Liara's intel.

"Caution is for pussies, remember?"

**{Loading...}**

_November 12, 2185_

_1900 hours._

_Shadow Broker's Main Office, Halcyon-Class Prototype, Hagalaz Storm Center, Hagalaz._

_Commander Marcus Lee Shepard, Chief Engineer Tali'Shepard vas Normandy, Subject Zero Jack, Information Broker Liara T'Soni._

"Oh, fuck this!"

Marcus was about to growl at her to stay in cover, but it was too late to tell the convict to anything of the sort. She rushed forth, blistering in biotic energy, and she sent a shockwave cascading down the center of the corridor; a corridor leading straight to a door. A door that served as the entrance to the office of the  _Shadow Broker himself._

One monitor hung from the ceiling to the right, obviously the Broker's way of summoning people inside, and a single desk lay on the same side of the corridor, currently occupied by the dead body of a salarian Tali had shot through the head with her pistol, the quarian now with him behind cover, Chiktika providing support.

Support no longer needed, according to Jack. The convict's shockwave took the last squad off balance, forcing them from cover. Using that to her advantage, she rushed forward, using her foot to leap off the wall and tackle one turian to the ground, the convict quickly shoving her shotgun barrel into his mouth and pulling the trigger, tearing his head asunder before he could raise his own weapon.

A salarian engineer raised his SMG to fire at her, but she covered him in her biotics, tossing him about like a rag doll before slamming him back into the ground, head first. A huge crack was heard, followed by the salarian's body thumping on the ground, head basically flattened as soft as a sponge now. Laughing, she formed a warp and shot it at one human who moved to fire her weapon at Jack, only for the warp to hit her square in the head, tearing her head off cleanly.

Multiple shots impacted Jack's shields, and she turned to the doorway to see two asari and two salarians firing at her, the mission's last combatants in the way of soldiers.

Before they could tear into her, a geth pulse rifle roared to life behind her and tore open the shields of one asari, before dropping her via a well placed shot through the heart. She turned to see Marcus running to her rescue, Tali at his side and shotgun firing. Liara also appeared, biotic field raised infront of Jack to protect her, the asari seeming barely fazed by the combat erupting around her.

Tali's shotgun clicked to state it was out of ammo and she instead punched the salarian in the head, before kneeing him in the stomach. Crying out, the salarian doubled over, allowing the quarian to gracefully slide over his back, and send a kick flying into his other salarian counterpart's head. Dazed, she slammed into a wall, allowing her to turn to the original salarian and activate his omni-tool. The dazed salarian quickly got to his feet, but never got to fire a single shot as Tali hit the original salarian's omni-tool's incineration function, the soldier bursting into flames before Tali then set the original's to overload, diving out of the way as the omni-tool exploded, ripping the salarian apart in a huge explosion.

Jack whooed and held a hand up in a high-five for the quarian, but she simply looked at her in confusion. Rolling her eyes, she dropped her hand, turning to see Marcus finishing off the last asari, "You really need to teach your quarian high-fives."

He shook his head, lowering his weapon, "And you should learn not to blindly charge at the enemy. Usually ends with me having to save your ass."

She held her hands before her and leaned backwards in an mockingly overly offended fashion, "I'm so fucking sorry boy scout! Won't happen again! Now, are we going to kill a Broker, or what?"

He nodded, brandishing his rifle once more as he signalled Tali and Liara to take flanking positions at the door's corners, while himself and Jack stood infront of it. Jack pulsed with biotics and he moved forward, his hand hovering over the red lock, which quickly turned green once Tali got through the encryption on it. In a matter of seconds, the door shot open and he moved inside, rifle raised at the first person he saw, and Jack was quickly following, shotgun raised her biotics ready to destroy. Tali and Liara quickly followed as well.

The office was massive, and easily spanned forty meters. The atrium was ten meters wide with nothing in it but a giant dome of bright white light encased in the ceiling, which looked like collected lightning, from the looks of it. A desk sat at the end of the ten meter long plain, and behind it was another desk, facing away from them, and was accompanied by at least twelve different terminal screens, all shut off. The room was covered in terminals, and two observation windows were located at the ends of the room, and you could see the wind racing by outside.

Flanking the back of the room was two stairwells connecting to the same balcony with more terminals, and in the center was a door leading into another room, but it was not only locked, but the haptic interface wasn't even present.

Luckily for them, the Broker wasn't behind it. He sat behind the desk, hands clasped ontop of it, watching them with an observant, inquisitive gaze, directly infront of them.

It was the Shadow Broker himself who was not what they expected.

He was bulbous beast, at least the size of a krogan, but definitely wider, but he wasn't of any species known to him. He two horns on his head, similiar to that of a salarian, but that was where the similiarities ended. The beast's head was huge, with a triangle shaped mouth, lips curved in a Y shape with razor sharp canines alining it. And on the creature's skull was eight eyes, all blinking, four on each side. He was as ugly as he was unknown.

His hands were four-fingered, but they were massive, enough to crush his head into a pulp, and each talon ended in one sharp claw. He wore jet black armor, this one darker than his soldiers', and his skin matched up well to it; his rough, dark leathery skin in barely noticable contrast between the armor.

The Broker's face twitched, and as he turned to the team, all weapons drawn on him, Marcus could see the Revenant strapped to his back along with the... _Typhoon_ on his desk?  _Gotta take him out quickly, or otherwise we'll have to deal with that gun._

"Here for the drell?" he spoke, but his voice wasn't as deep and shiver-inducing as the one on the PA, but it was still deep, and it seemed to repeat itself even after speaking its words. It was guttural, and sent goosebumps down his spine.  _He sounds alot like Sovereign...just not as loud, synthetic, or boiterious,_ "Reckless, even for you, Commander."

Marcus laughed, lowering his weapon slightly, meeting the beast's gaze, or at least trying, with its so many eyes, "Really? You're going to lecture me on recklessness? That bombing on Illium wasn't very subtle! And neither was the destruction of that apartment on the MesoReso Hotel! Or the attack on the Rayya! None of it was A-class discretion!"

He didn't shake his head. He barely even blinked. He only blankly at him, his infuriating calmness alot like the Illusive Man's, "Extreme, but necessary."

It was Liara who stepped in this time, her voice loud and full of pent-up anger, "No it wasn't! Neither was caging Feron for two years!"

The Broker turned to look at her, unwavering in its expression, "Dr. T'Soni, we meet face to face, at last. Alas, it was your interference that caused all this," he finally shook his head, showing a sign of emotion, "Feron betrayed me when he handed you Shepard's body. The drell is simply paying the price."

Marcus shook his head as well, fixing the Broker with a look of disgust, "You had to know someone would come after you; especially after working for the Collectors. A species, I'll remind you, now enjoy the realm of extinction."

"It was a mutually beneficial partnership," it was a simple answer for a simple statement, "Your arrival would be more convenient if the Collectors still existed; however, the Reapers may pay the same price for your body. So my offer still stands."

Tali came to Marcus' side, a snarl in her voice, and he could hear a guttural growl eminating from her throat as she eyed the creature with repulsive indifference, "Noone touches him but  _me_. You want him, you'll go through  _me_ , you bosh'tet scumbag."

The Broker turned to her, a grin almost forming on its features, "Ah, I see you brought your quarian wife with you, Shepard. I was surprised when you let her lead your assault team. After her failure to protect her squad on Haestrom, and her inability to keep one squad sergeant under control on Freedom's Progress, I thought you'd be against letting her command anything bigger than a fireteam."

Tali's anger disappeared and a look of sadness replaced it for a second, before she spat once more, "You'll have to try better than that, Shadow Broker."

The grin disappeared, if it ever existed, "Good, at least your competency remains somewhat intact."

Marcus glared daggers at him, "You talk pretty big for someone with everything to lose. This is a pretty big ship with no crew to run it."

"They are replacable," the Broker replied, "Your interference is barely an interruption. Enough talk; my operations have become too delicate for you to ruin them now."

Liara came in, a smug grin on her face, "Why's that, Broker? You've got nowhere else to hide. Your operations are over."

The Broker seemed to ignore her, as if she wasn't even there, and fixed his gaze on Jack, who was barely able to remain anonymous, "You travel with fascinating companions, doctor. The convict, Subject Zero, has suffered alot of torture at Cerberus' hands. I'm sure they violated her in more ways than one. On my world, that is punishable by mutilation. But she escaped, and made a living for herself. Tell me, Subject Zero, how many people violated you on Purgatory?"

Jack's biotics shifted in and out of sync as she tried to combat the Broker's words, but they hit home. She stepped back, seemingly melting into herself for a moment, before standing tall again, realizing what the Broker was doing, "Fuck you, asshole."

The Broker ignored the comment as Liara stood infront of Jack, SMG bared down on the Broker's face, "You're not getting your hands on  _anyone,_ Shadow Broker. This ends  _today_."

"On that, we are in agreement," the Broker stated, "I prefer to get to know my clients before I kill them, however, Doctor T'Soni. It makes for a more justified kill."

"You're not going to win Broker," Marcus challenged, rifle raising once more to aim at its head.

"Its pointless to challenge me, human," the Broker's voice was dark, hinting at a more sinister tone, "I know your every secret, while you fumble in the dark."

Liara's smile grew however, turning into a smug grin, "Is that right?" Marcus turned to look at her, but she didn't register it, and just continued talking, gaze never leaving the creature before her, "You're a yahg, from Parnack. A pre-spaceflight species quarantined to their homeworld for massacring the Council's first contact teams. This base is older than your planet's discovery, which probably means you killed the original Shadow Broker sixty years ago, then took over."

Her grin widened all the more at the look of hesitation on the Broker's face, which slowly broke into a look of growing anger, "I'm guessing you were taken from your world by a trophy hunter who wanted a slave..." the Broker visibly brissled at these words, and Marcus found a smile rising to his own lips.  _You have him Liara_.

"...or a pet," Liara finished, her smile reaching its peak, "How am I doing?"

A low, guttural growl was heard before the lumbering beast behind his desk unclasped his hands, clenching and unclenching in fury. Silently, and strikingly, he stood from his chair, and Marcus had to crane his  _neck_ to keep eye contact. The Shadow Broker stood to his full height, easily towering over the tallest krogan and even dwarfing Wrex; he stood a full 18 feet over them, his hands clenched at his sides and looking down at them, like they were ants. He simply glared at Liara; vehemence and irritation all mixed into the same look.

It all happened too fast for Marcus to react quickly enough.

The yahg's ogre-sized right hand arched down and slammed into the desk with missile like force, shattering it clean in half and crushing his terminal in the process. Just as quickly, he picked up the piece on the right side, and threw it at Liara, the wooden arc shooting forth like a missile. Marcus turned to her, knowing a warning wouldn't come fast enough.

Summoning his biotics, he shot forward and landed just behind the asari, where he proceeded to wrap his arms around her waist and throw themselves off to the side, doing so just as the wooden chunk reached them, and instead raced past. They landed on the ground, with Liara below him on the ground and Marcus ontop. She nodded to him in thanks, but Marcus' response was cut short as he heard a familiar, strangled voice cry out from behind him, causing his head to spin around.

The chunk slammed into Jack's form, the convict unable to dodge the debris in time. She cried out in pain as multiple pieces of wood dug into her exposed skin and she was thrown into the wall, slamming into the ground and being almost immediately knocked unconscious, red blood pooling around her body from her numerous wounds. He turned back to the Broker, watching as he kicked the other piece towards Tali.

The chunk disintegrated as it impacted Tali's raised omni-shield, the quarian deactivating it and about to raise her shotgun when the yahg lowered his hand and then swatted her tiny form away like an annoying insect, the quarian slamming into the wall and back to the ground, the sound of a bone breaking as she slumped to the ground. He could only look at Tali's unconscious body in horror.

 _ **"TALI!"**_  His cry of anguish was interrupted as the Shadow Broker activated an omni-shield on his right arm, and gripped his Revenant light machine gun in the other, taking aim at Marcus and Liara's idol bodies. They both leapt for cover just as LMG fire littered the ground where they originally lay, the massive yahg growling as he brought his gun back around, tracking them.

They both slipped into cover as gunfire racked the barricade they hid behind. Marcus had looked about to run out and grab Tali, but the Broker's assault and left him nothing but cold, furious, and outright murderous.

He turned to Liara who a stone-cold gaze, "Liara, you tend to Jack. I'll take care of the Broker."

She looked at him and shook her head, "Are you crazy!? He's huge! He'll crush you like an insect! You need my help!"

He pointed at Jack, his voice brokering no argument, "Help. Jack. The Shadow Broker's mine; he's just made this personal. Noone hurts  _my_ wife, and especially not  _Tali,_ " he moved to stand, but Liara's hand on his shoulder drew him down again, the asari still willing to argue as the Broker's large footsteps sounded across the room.

"He hurt Feron! I do not take kindly to that!" she growled, "He's mine just as much as he's yours! I-"

"We don't have time for this!" Marcus snarled, only to be interrupted by a weak voice behind them.

"I'll take care of Jack," she spoke, "You two deal with the Broker. And before you ask, I'm fine."

Both heads whorled to look at Tali, who had slid into their cover, cradling her broken arm. She looked at them with her own anti-argumentative look, eyes narrowed.

"How-?" He was at her side in an instant, "Let me look at tha-"

"No!" Tali spat, "Deal with the Broker, you bosh'tet! I'll have Mordin and Chakwas tend to my arm  _after_ we've killed him! Now go!"

He nodded, giving her a quick peck on the visor before leaping up, pulse rifle already out and laying fire down on the huge yahg while Liara moved off to the left, biotics lighting up and enveloping her body.

Some shots hit his body's kinetic barriers, but the rest bounced harmlessly off the omni-shield as he raised it infront of him. With another growl, he raised his Revenant over the shield and popped off another long burst at Marcus, the spectre forced back into cover as he cursed.

The sound of biotics was heard and he looked to watch a constant barrage of warp fields hit the Broker's side repetitively, taking the yahg by surprise initially, but he quickly recovered. Swivelling around, he used his omni-shield to deflect the rest of the warps while he kept his Revenant trained at Marcus' cover, firing blindly to keep him pinned while he slowly advanced on Liara.

He spared one final glance at Tali, who had dragged Jack's unconscious form back behind cover and was now tending to her wounds with medi-gel. With an inhale and exhale of breath, he leapt out of the Broker's field of fire and stood to his full height, summoning his own biotics as he laid down his own barrage of warp fields, which he polished off with a shockwave; one he put all his energy into.

A loud snarl was heard as the fresh warp fields disintegrated the remainder of the Broker's kinetic shielding and the shockwave slammed into his side, stumbling him slightly. Quick as a flash, his Revenant was facing Marcus again, but this time the assault harmlessly bounced off Marcus' own omni-shield, and he slowly advanced towards the cumbersome beast.

The Shadow Broker spun to face Marcus and quickly moved forward, slamming his foot forward as he kicked Marcus in the shield. The yahg's face squinted in pain slightly from the burns suffered to his foot, but he quickly recovered seeing that he had successfully forced Marcus onto his back, shield pushed into his own chest.

The Broker's own shield descended like a vulture towards the spectre's face, only to cause an energetic  _boom_ as the two omni-shields' energies collided, sending the Broker stumbling backwards from the force, and allowing Marcus to get to his feet, holstering his rifle and equipping his Locust SMG.

Liara rushed in, trying to get under the creature's shield, but was only met by the yahg's LMG slamming into her chest, forcing her back and winding her as she fell to her knees. The Shadow Broker moved to stomp on her vulnerable form, but Marcus was up in a heartbeat, suicidally charging the titan of a broker.

Shields clashed as Marcus rammed into the Broker, and he summoned all his cybernetics into being. The yahg grunted in shock as Marcus began to push him back, and he began to place all his muscle power into his shield arm as well, causing an alternate version of tug-of-war.

Eventually, the Shadow Broker threw his Revenant over Marcus' shield and pulled the trigger, a field of fire pouring into his shields. In seconds, his armor's alarms went off to signal his shields were done, and pain shot up his right shoulder as a few rounds met their mark. He fell backwards and the yahg's fist slammed into his chest, sending him flying backwards and onto the ground.

"You are weak," the Broker spoke, speaking up for the first time since the battle began, "Both of you. Crushing you will be easy. From all the information I gathered on you, this has to be the first time my intel was wrong about you. You're weaker than they claim. Maybe Saren was weaker than I am. All I know is that selling you to Harbinger will earn me more than just information. It'll earn myself survival. That'll be worth alot in the next cycle when my species takes over the galaxy."

Marcus coughed and heaved, desperately trying to breathe some air into his lungs, but the yahg was too fast approaching. He raised his shield, deflecting a hammerfist blow to his head by the yahg, and the creature didn't even cry out as the heat singed his fist, the Shadow Broker simply eying him in annoyance.

Three warp fields collided with his back, and, as if rolling his eyes, he spun around and took aim with his LMG once more. However, just before he could raise his omni-shield, a final warp field bypassed his shields and hit the front of his Revenant, the front barrel vaporized by the impact and the rest of the weapon blowing apart in the Broker's hand.

"The weak ones just disarmed you," Liara retorted, SMG in one hand and a biotic sphere in the other a she glared down the massive yahg that easily towered over her, "You should be embarassed. Or enraged. Either one will get you killed, and either one will make me happy because of it. I'm going to kill you Shadow Broker. For what you did to Feron, and for the innocent lives you've murdered just to stop me."

A snarl was her only response as the yahg charged forth, empty hand swinging behind his shield as he charged at lightning speeds. Marcus struggled to his feet, dragging his shield with him as he ignored the aching agony in his chest, and the stinging pain hovering around the multiple bullet wounds in his right shoulder. Despite weighing nothing, the omni-shield felt heavy in his hand, and the Locust seemed to drag him down.

He fixed this by temporarily bringing his biotics to bear, before dissipating them, knowing that the use of biotics made his body lighter than his body mass while active, making him literally as light as a feather, which gave him the strength to raise his shield and SMG. Once done, he applied medi-gel to his gunshot wounds before racing in to aid his asari friend.

She was fighting for her life as she leapt to and fro, desperately dodging the Broker's swipes, punches and kicks. A few times he tried to wack her with his omni-shield, but she deflected it with a biotic field, before continuing their combat dance. Desperate to find a weakness in the colossal warrior, Marcus let his omni-shield morph into an omni-blade before sliding forward and ramming it into the back of the Broker's left ankle.

Blue blood oozed out of the wound, but the yahg didn't register the wound, simply looking up and turning around to face Marcus behind him, before he then swatted the spectre away like a fly. He landed near the Broker's desk, right next to his Typhoon portable HMG, almost skewering himself on a large chunk of sharp wood.

"My people are bred to fight at two months old, human," the Broker growled, gnarling his teeth as he slowly and presumptously ignored Liara, moving towards Marcus with slow, methodical steps, "We are taught to kill and enjoy it, rape and embrace it, pillage and reave its rewards. But most of all, we are taught to feel no pain. To not even register it. So, we are very much like your geth in terms of war," the yahg loomed over Marcus, his colossal shadow, ironically, easily covering him, "You think your krogan bloodthirsty? They. Are. Nothing. If the salarians had uplifted the yahg...well...the results would have been much different."

And with that, he moved to slam his shield into Marcus' abdomen. Without even thinking about it, Marcus' hand shot out and grabbed the N7 Typhoon heavy machine gun, pulling at the heavy weapon before it finally landed in his grip, and he took aim with it. The Typhoon was a huge weapon, easily the size of a portable cannon, and had two large twin metal shields attached to the middle to protect the user. And as it roared to life in his hands, he pulled the trigger.

"Feel this."

The Shadow Broker fell back as the heavy shots poured into his exposed chest, ripping through his shields, armor and scaled flesh. Blue blood spat out of the puncture points and dotted the ground as the yahg continued to pull back, the weapon coughing out loudly as it spewed hot death that would have turned a human into a unrecognizable hunk of meat.

Finally, the Broker recovered sufficiently to lower his shield, ableit tiredly and clearly injured; the yahg seemed to slump slightly, and Marcus seemed to grin in triumph as he realized he had hurt the beast. Fuelled by anger at the memory of how he almost killed Tali, he growled his own snarl in tandem with the Broker, and both of them charged towards each other once more, omni-shield in one opponent's hand and Typhoon in the others'.

Liara seemed to watch from the sidelines as Marcus' acquired Typhoon perputually spat death, all of it harmlessly impacting the charging warrior's shield. But in a second, just the Broker threatened to incinerate Marcus in the impact, the spectre strafed to the side and slammed a armoured boot into the Broker's injured ankle.

He stumbled, giving Marcus time to open up into the Broker's back with the Typhoon. Just as he did however, the weapon coughed, sputtured, and died as it ran out of ammo. He growled and tossed the weapon to the side, going for his Locust, only to realize he dropped it at the Broker's desk. Defenseless, he watched the Broker sluggishly turn towards him, hate in his eyes, promising a slow death.

"Wrong move human," the Shadow Broker spat, "I'll squash you like the insect you-"

Liara's biotic warps slammed into the Broker's back and he stumbled again, wincing at the pain they caused it as the warps impacted the wounds in his back left by the Typhoon's left rounds. As he did, he stomped down on said weapon, crushing it before turning to face Liara, swatting Marcus aside and onto his back as he did.

He found himself looking up, and felt his vision blurring slightly as he realized they had been standing under the white dome of light the entire time during that battle. As he looked at it, he could hear the Broker battling Liara in the background, and knew he had to help her, but he could barely get up now; the punishment the Broker had dealt him growing evident.

Then he remembered something as he continued to stare at the white dome. Feron's words popped into his head.

_There's no controls on the station that could release me without sending a shock through me, but the Broker's main office has this...thing in it._

_has this...thing in it..._

_this thing in it..._

_this thing..._

_The dome! That's what he meant! He was talking about the dome!_

He also realized something else; if all the electricity of the lightning was gathered in that dome, then that meant if it exploded, anything below it wouldn't be just fried, it would be completely vaporized...

That was it! That's how they could beat him!

He was struggling to his feet in an instant and he commed Liara on his private channel, "Liara, lure the Shadow Broker under the dome, but make sure you're not under it!"

"What!?" Liara asked, "It doesn't matter where we battle Marcus, he won't-"

"Just do it! I have a plan!" he shouted, turning to see Liara desperately evading the Broker's blows, "And you can't keep exchanging blows with him forever; you know that!"

"Damn it...fine! I trust you! Just...whatever you're going to do, make it quick!"

He nodded, shutting off the comm as he got to his feet and moved to slide behind the barricade, keeping his head poked out to watch Liara's progress. He watched as the asari used her biotics to leap over the yahg and rush towards the entrance of the office, the Shadow Broker spinning to face her with a cackling laugh.

"Why are you running away, Doctor T'Soni?" he growled, "I don't believe we are done yet."

She shot a warp field at him, and he battered it away effortlessly with his shield, "Very well," he gave as his addendum as he launched forward, the Broker moving to stand under the dome as he came within range of grabbing Liara. Seeing his plan had worked, he cried out as he came to stand, biotics lighting up, "Now Liara! Get out of the way!"

She leapt backwards just in time to watch the Broker spin to face Marcus as the spectre matched his glare, gaze for gaze. He scowled at the commander.

"Just what are you doing, human?"

"Sending you to hell, where you belong."

"And how do you figure tha-?"

The Broker never finished that sentence. Because he didn't live to finish it.

Pulsing with biotic power, he raised his hands and enveloped the white dome in blue energy. Not sparing the yahg a moment, he brought his hands down with all his might, bringing the glass of the dome with them as he did.

It shattered, and like water flowing from a river, bright, blinding white light cascaded down from the ceiling, completely consuming the Shadow Broker's form as he disappeared. No scream, no shout, no final words; only an unfinished sentence as the sound of crackling lightning assaulted their ears. After a few seconds, the ceiling dome was empty and the white light evaporated, only static traces of electricity left to show that there was anything at all; not even the glass survived.

And standing there, in the remnants, was the great, big black mark of a yahg standing in a battle pose, the posture burnt into the ground in the Broker's final moments, whilst the yahg's actual body was nowhere seen; erased from existence and burnt down to the last atom.

They had done it.

The Shadow Broker had been destroyed.

Feron had been freed, presumably.

And it was all over.

All Marcus could do was laugh as he fell to his knees, a smile slowly forming on Liara's lips.

It was finally over.

**"We did it. But that was only the beginning. The Shadow Broker was far from dead just yet."**

**\- Tali'Shepard pav Rannoch.**

**"Who knew?"**

**Marcus Shepard.**

_**A/N:** _

_**Yes, its a long chapter. Yes, it took a while. Was it a good read? I should hope so.** _

_**That was the epic conclusion of the Shadow Broker Arc. I hope you enjoyed it, and continue to enjoy Requiem as it comes to its resolution; yeah, there's only seven chapters left! Time really flew by, didn't it?** _

_**The next few chapters will be mop up chapters and, to my deepest regret, resolutions for some of the characters as they begin to leave the Normandy crew in preparation for the Arrival Arc of the story. Requiem is ending my friends, but For A Better Tomorrow is far from over; you've still got two installments to go, so its not all sad. ;)** _


	27. Realms of Information

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Liara becomes the new Shadow Broker. Tali discovers the truth of her mother's death. The Illusive Man solidifies his hold on Omega, while planning his next major move. Grunt returns to Tuchanka with Wrex as more members of the crew begin to leave.

**REQUIEM**

**CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX:**

**REALMS OF INFORMATION**

_November 12, 2185_

_1916 hours._

_Shadow Broker's Main Office, Halcyon-Class Prototype, Hagalaz Storm Center, Hagalaz._

_Commander Marcus Lee Shepard, Chief Engineer Tali'Shepard vas Normandy, Subject Zero Jack, Information Broker Liara T'Soni._

Particles. Molecules. A burnt mark on the ground.

That was all that was left of the Shadow Broker.

The pain in his shoulder and ribcage seemed to melt away as he got to his feet, biotics simmering away as he stood up, watching the last few tidbits of electricity sizzle, dance and evaporate into thin air like water. He stands there, sweat dripping down his skin, joining in Liara at looking at the now empty spot in complete shock, unbelieving of what had happened.

It was over. Liara could stop running, she had rescued the one she loved, and destroyed her nemesis.

The asari stepped forward, breaking from her stupor as she surveyed her surroundings, holstering her SMG on her hip as she did and turning to Marcus, a look in her eyes when she met his that he instantly recognized. He gave her a smile and nodded, a smile quickly reaching Liara's as she turned away, walking up to the spot where the massive yahg was vaporized. He was about to follow her when he felt a hand tighten on his shoulder and spun around, his eyes meeting hers.

Before he could do anything else, Marcus was held in place as Tali applied medi-gel to his gunshot wounds, the spectre wincing as she applied the dabs of orange gel before relaxing, embracing the cool feeling that washed over the blood-soaked injuries as the medi-gel took affect immediately. His ribcage still burned from the beating he had taken, but it was minute compared to the damage the Broker's point blank firing into his shoulder could have done.

"Crazy bosh'tet..." he heard Tali mumble under her breath, "Always trying to get yourself killed! Of all the idiotic things, you charge the Broker?"

He grinned at her, trying to alleviate her concerns, "All in a days work, Tali."

She rolled her eyes, "Sometimes I wonder what I see in you..."

"Is it my charming personality?" he quipped, which earned him a slap on the uninjured shoulder as she finished dressing his wounds, the quarian hiding her smile behind her mask before backing away, rubbing her hands together to get rid of the remaining gel before putting the packet back in her suit pocket. He nodded his thanks and was about to check her broken arm when movement from behind her caught his eye, and he protectively shoved her behind him...

...only to watch as Feron limped into the room, phalanx pistol in his left hand and limping on a broken ankle and stinging thigh. The drell winced at every step as he limped into the room, but all focus on his injury disappeared as he looked up, eyes landing on the burn mark in the middle of the office before his eyes met with Marcus'.

The spectre nodded, and a grim smile crossed the drell's face, the former agent nodding as he holstered his pistol, and he moved forward, crossing the office to join Liara. Both himself and Tali watched as Liara turned around and her smile widened, the asari wrapping the drell in a tight hug, Feron returning it. When they were finished, they pulled away, and Liara gave him a deep, passionate kiss; one filled with loving, tender care and full of a couple of years of absent need. When the asari pulled away from that, she merely smiled at Feron, the drell smiling back, before hugging him again.

They turned away to give them some privacy, and Marcus' eyes immediately landed on Jack's unconscious body sitting against the wall, the convict's eyes closed and her body covered in dried blood while splinters of wood stuck out of her body, his quarian engineer deciding to leave the splinters where they are, out of fear of Jack bleeding out.

At that moment, the doors shot open again, and Wrex, followed by the rest of the squad filed into the room, weapons raised. However, upon seeing that no combat was present and that the Broker was absent, which could only mean he was dead, they holstered their weapons, while Legion lagged behind, the geth locking the door behind them and encrypting it so the Broker's agents couldn't hack their way in.

Mordin immediately rushed to Jack's side, the salarian opening his omni-tool and doing scans of her upper body structure to make sure she wasn't internally bleeding before motioning to Grunt to pick her up. Just as the young krogan was doing so, Garrus, Wrex and Kaidan arrived infront of him, the turian bracing his sniper rifle against his shoulder, while taking off his helmet.

"So, I see you took care of the party for us," Garrus smirked, "Could have left some for us, Marcus. You're very greedy."

"I'm going to have to agree with this ugly pyjak," Wrex growled, waving his claymore at the commander, "You could have left some for us."

Marcus chuckled, shaking his head, "Trust me, there was alot to take on, but its not like I could afford to delay."

Kaidan sighed, holstering his rifle, "At least its over. Just what species was the Broker anyway?"

"A yahg, apparently," he explained, and Garrus and Kaidan frowned, cocking their heads in confusion. Only Wrex seemed to know what he was talking about, the krogan's eyes widening as he holstered his heavy shotgun.

"One of those things?" the krogan grumbled, rubbing his temple, "That would have been a battle to see. I could say I'm surprised you took down something that powerful, but you're Shepard. I've seen you take down geth colossi that were bigger, tougher and faster."

He smiled at the krogan, and Kaidan turned to Wrex with a raised eyebrow, "You know what a yahg is, Wrex?"

"Sure I do, heard about it alot from the Council. They never stopped ranting on about it," the krogan chieftain sighed, squaring his shoulders, "Apparently the yahg originate from Parnack, in the Remus System. They had discovered their system's mass relay when the Council deployed a first contact team to their homeworld. And guess what they did? They killed them, and then feasted on them. You think my people are brutal? The yahg make us look like varren; they were more like thresher maws. Bred as fast, too, if the stories can be believed."

"That bad?" Garrus inquired, and the krogan nodded.

"Worse," Wrex proceeded, shuffling his feet, "My people may be warriors, but we at least have a code of honor; Rites, a culture, respect for females and some form of organized civilization. We at least want to change our ways. We at least have  _morals_ and a code of  _ethics._ The yahg have none of that," his blood red eyes met Marcus', "They are animals, Shepard, nothing more. Animals that just happen to be sapient and sentient. They have no honor, and they are always in some sort of war. They have no government to speak of except their designated warlords, they kill because they enjoy it, they flay their enemies, they rape their women legally, and they have no culture to ascertain to. They have no morals, and their ethics are non-existent. They don't even have scientists; how they managed to build a ship is beyond me. But don't underestimate their strength; just one male is strong enough to lift a kodiak shuttle or Mako tank. Those things are living, breathing, tanks. Faster than an elcor, anyway."

"How did the yahg not build a fleet?" Marcus asked, curious, "I mean, if they had discovered a mass relay, they presumably discovered mass effect fields right? How are we not at war with them right now?"

"Council quarantined their homeworld and confiscated their tech," Wrex explained, "Had the salarians sabotage their weapons and launch facilities, while the turians shot any ships out of the sky that tried to leave the planet. They couldn't very well move a mass relay, so instead they sent STG agents to assassinate every scientist involved in the ship building projects and involved in discovering mass effect fields, while also burning all evidence. Its inevitable that they'll find out again, but for now, peace is held. Won't matter when the Reapers arrive though. Yahg are tough, but I bet the Reapers will mop the floors of Parnack with them. They won't be much of a threat. Not for now, though."

Kaidan whistled, "Anything that strong is a welcome ally, if you ask me."

Jacob quickly joined them, throwing in a snappy salute as he holstered his shotgun, "Sir, we've secured the doorway. None of the Shadow Broker's men are headed this way, so that has to be a good sign."

Marcus nodded, wincing as he turned to face the ex-alliance corsair, "At least they won't be pestering us. All we need to do now is detonate this ship's reactor; make sure noone can restart this organization once we've finished it. Destroy the ship and all the Broker's soldiers with it, and then extract to the Normandy," he turned to look at Liara and Feron, who were avidly talking to one another in the foreground, before turning back to Jacob, "Give Feron a ride too, if he wants."

Jacob nodded, smiling, "Got that, commander."

He turned to Kal, "Reegar, take a team and secure that room at the back. I don't want any nasty surprises."

Kal nodded, motioning for Kasumi and Samara to follow him as he equipped his rifle and jogged towards the room at the back. Marcus quickly made his way across the room towards Liara and Feron, cradling his side as he limped over. Tali followed behind him, and a quick glance back showed Jack cradled in Grunt's arms, almost like a mother holds a newborn baby, a peaceful expression on the convict's face. Mordin nodded to Marcus, letting him know she would be okay, but needed 'medical attention fast.'

He nodded to him, signalling the Normandy, "EDI, can you read me?"

"I read you Commander. It would appear the Broker's ship has somehow managed to boost his carrier signal, allowing him to communicate through Hagalaz's atmosphere," with that stated, the AI continued, "What can I do for you, Commander?"

"The Shadow Broker is defeated and we're planning to detonate the ship's reactor and escape. However, Jack is currently unconscious and suffering from multiple injuries over her body. Mordin has stabilized her, but not for long. I've sent you the coordinates for the main airlock; send the shuttle back for a CASEVAC, immediately. Send Madi as an armed escort incase the Shadow Broker's mercs try anything."

"The shuttle is away, Shepard," EDI responded, "ETA two minutes."

He nodded, disconnecting the comm before turning back to Mordin, practically shouting, "Get to the main airlock; shuttle is inbound! Have Grunt go with you to carry Jack."

The salarian hastily nodded, motioning for the lumbering krogan to follow him. He groaned, but followed upon seeing his battlemaster's scolding glare, still holding Jack in his arms as he left the room, the rest of the squad staying behind to secure the room.

He finally arrived at where Liara and Feron were standing, and both of them turned to look at him, Liara beaming largely while Feron smiled meekly, his expression tired and showing signs of extreme malnutrition.

"Its over Liara. We finally did it," Marcus stated, nodding at her drell lover, "You saved Feron, and destroyed the Shadow Broker. You can rest easy now knowing you just killed the galaxy's most infamous kingpin at information brokering. What's next for you two? We're going to destroy this vessel, and I could give you two a ride."

"Well, I was thinking of taking a ride back to Illium, maybe resign my position as an information broker," Liara responded, "Not like I need to remain as one anymore, considering I only joined up to locate Feron and the Broker."

Feron nodded, "That sounds like a plan; I met you on Illium, makes sense we settle down on Illium. Although, from what I've heard, you'll need help stopping the Reapers. I'm sure we can continue to help gathering evidence to prove your point so you can prepare the galaxy."

Marcus patted the drell on the shoulder, smiling, "I'd like that Feron, but I'm surprised you haven't offered to join me Liara," he raised an eyebrow up at her, grinning, "It'd be like old times; we have Wrex, Kaidan, Tali and Garrus! With you onboard, it'll be just like before! We can always find Feron a place too, if he wants to stay with us."

"Actually, it'll just be Kaidan, Tali and Garrus now," Wrex spoke up from behind them, and they all turned to face the krogan.

Marcus was disappointed and saddened by this, "Don't say goodbye, Wrex. I hate goodbyes."

The krogan chortled, a smirk on his face, "Its not a goodbye Shepard; more like a temporary salutations; believe it or not, I'm actually dependable now and I've got my own problems to take care of. I only came to join you when I heard you were taking down the Shadow Broker; that, and from Grunt's message, it sounded like you needed help. I wasn't planning on staying, as much as I'd like to. If I leave Tuchanka for too long, some chieftain might get the bright idea of trying to take over. Maybe even Wreav will try a coup. Gotta make sure I keep things in order just long enough for the Reapers to turn up so we can direct our hatred at them, and not the Council."

The spectre sighed, nodding reluctantly, "I understand, Wrex. Its been good to fight alongside you again; however brief."

The krogan shrugged, "With the real enemy on the horizon, it won't be the last time either. We'll meet on the battlefield again Shepard, and when that happens, I'll be more than happy to fight, not only by your side, but under your command. You made the unification of Tuchanka possible Shepard; the krogan will remember that. I'll make sure of it. Still, I'm not leaving yet. Not like I can. Once we've left the system, I'll have you drop me off at...say...the Citadel? Don't want to bother you by having you drop me off all the way on Tuchanka."

"I think we can manage it Wrex," he eyed the burnt mark on the ground, "Not like anyone is shadowing us anymore, forgive the pun."

The war chieftain could only shake his head, "True."

"I think it'd be more productive for me and Feron to be on Illium as well Shepard; it allows us to find more information to help your cause. To be frank, it'd be much more helpful to your cause.  _Our_ cause," Liara finished.

He turned and nodded gravely, but before he could respond, mouth half-open, a flash appeared in his left peripheral vision, and everyone turned to watch as the Shadow Broker's many terminals came back to life, flashes of light and color lighting up and brightening the room as all twelve screens beamed with status reports, updates and requests for video conference. Some even asked for orders.

Wait...some asked for  _orders._

The first voice that spoke sat on the top left terminal, a volume measurement chart rising and falling as the agent, clearly a salarian by the inflections in his voice, spoke, "Shadow Broker, this is Operative Murat. We had a momentary connection failure, but it seems to have cleared up. Can you confirm your status? Has Shepard and his team been taken out? Shadow Broker, please respond."

More voices quickly followed, and they all spoke at once.

"Shadow Broker, this is Operative Pev! Requesting an update!"

"Shadow Broker, this is Operative Tazzik, what's going on? We had a connection failure, but everything's restored. Is Shepard dead?"

"Operative Shora requesting an update. Are we still online?"

Liara slowly edged towards the console, and everyone followed her, until the asari stopped dead infront of it, the voices still overlapping each other as if they were children fighting for the first say. Feron came to stand on her right, and Marcus on her left with Tali, and Garrus and Kaidan stood behind her, frowning. Liara looked overwhelmed as she eyed the screens, indecision all over her face as she tried to think of what to do.

"Shadow Broker, I've lost our feed. We are online and awaiting instructions."

For a split second, Liara eyed Marcus with that innocent look in her eyes; and it lasted but a meer second, indecision still covering her features. He met her gaze, but by the time he did, she turned back, her face becoming hard as stone as she eyed the screens once again. Her face was determined now; the face of a cold, ruthless woman who would sacrifice many things to get what she wanted. She had done so saving Feron, and in defeating the Shadow Broker. And she was about to do the same now.

She braced herself against the console and closed her eyes, the voices washing over her. She took in a deep breath through her nostrils, and then, in an instant, she opened her eyes, meeting the center console with her piercing glare, and exhaled through both her nose and mouth. And before anyone could advise her against it, she switched on the voice mask and hit the reply button for all agents, galaxy wide and on the ship, even accessing the PA system.

She spoke, and her voice sounded just like the yahg's, but masked.

The voices stopped.

"This is the Shadow Broker," she stated, "The situation is under control. But there has been a change of plans."

Marcus eyed her in shock, as did Tali, the quarian's jaw hanging open. A smirk creased Garrus' face at hearing her and Kaidan just shook his head, clearly amused. Feron eyed Liara with a loving grin, and clasped his hands behind his back, simply standing back and listening as Liara spoke, the asari seeming to be absorbed in the moment.

She quickly continued, "We were experiencing power fluctuations while upgrading hardware, but I have also spoke with Commander Shepard," she took a breath, and finished, "We have reached an agreement. We are no longer enemies, and all further hostile movements against Shepard will be taken. We are now allies, in full and in name, and shall assist in his crusade to stop the Reapers, which I'm sure you all know of."

His look of shock morphed into a grin, and Tali seemed to just lean backwards, crossing her arms in disbelief. Garrus joined them, while Kaidan moved to join the others, Feron not moving an inch. Liara shot Marcus a smile, which he returned, before she turned back to the screen.

"However, we are now back online and at full operation," she declared, "Resume standard procedures and recover our dead and fix the ship. I want a status report on our situation within the next solar day," and with a final hiss, she concluded, "Shadow Broker...out."

The screen disappeared, and all screens went silent before deactivating, showing that the agents understood their situation and orders and were now following them. Liara took one step away from the console, hands on her hips as she stood there in her white armoured labcoat, eyes glazing over the realms of information sitting before her.

Marcus just shook his head at her as she turned to face him, the asari suddenly looking nervous again as she justified her actions, "Well...anyone who's ever seen him in person is dead, so..."

"You're the new Shadow Broker," Feron finished, smiling as he had been since she began her speech, "Never saw that coming, did you?"

"Its one thing to fight your enemy," she responded, smiling at Feron before turning back to face Marcus, hands clasping behind her back, "Its another to succeed them. No Feron, no I did not see this coming, neither did I plan for it."

Marcus nodded, the information broker obviously looking for approval, and he simply chuckled inside.  _First she's planning on going to Illium, and now she's in command of a galactic empire of resources. We all seem to be going crazy,_ "Well Liara, maybe you can really help us now. Being the Shadow Broker can work wonders."

She smiled, nodding as she opened her omni-tool and frantically linked it to the main desk console, "Now I have access to an entire  _galaxy's_ worth of information! I have his contacts, his trading sources, his  _private army._ All of it is mine, and I can give it to you to fight the Reapers! Think of the things I could do to aid you! Shepard, this is perfect! With this information, I could...I can...oh goddess..." she turned to him finally, a tear forming in her eye, "We can destroy the Reapers with an information network like this. I could find you the Illusive Man. Every dirty government secret. I could upload all of Councilor Sparatus' extranet search history to your omni-tool in a heartbeat. I could start wars, paramilitary organizations, revolutions, uprisings! All at the flick of a finger or command! I have the power to make people disappear, to make all my problems vanish..."

Marcus' grin turned into a worried expression and he lay a hand on her shoulder, squeezing it gently to gain her attention. She met his eyes, and saw the worry in them and concern in his voice as he spoke, "Liara, please don't become obsessed. Power like this...we humans have a saying. 'Power corrupts. Absolute power corrupts absolutely.' Don't let this take control of your life. Don't let it turn you down a darker path. Use it to help us stop the Reapers and nothing else. If you can help me find Cerberus, that would be a bonus but please, don't do anything that could turn you into...into...into  _him._ " He pointed at the spot where they had vaporized the previous Broker.

"I won't. I promise," Liara nodded solemnly, "I...I...in that moment, when those voices required updates, all I could think of was you. Your cause. The Reapers. We need to stop them Shepard, or all life is doomed. So when I heard them speak, and remembered who the Broker was...how could I let such an opportunity slip by? We need to use it to its fullest Shepard. It just...it just means..."

"We might not see each other for a long time. I know," he motioned to the others, "We know. You're making a sacrifice Liara; one for the galaxy's sake. And that takes alot of altruistic guts to do. Besides, you'll have Feron at your side, I'm sure."

The drell bowed, smiling as he did, "I will gladly aid Liara if it means I get to be at her side."

"You'll be my top agent," she nodded to him, smirking devillishly before she turned back to Marcus, bowing to him, "I...thank you, Shepard. I know we didn't get much together outside of chasing the Broker, and I know I've been cold to you, but..."

Two hands on her shoulders stopped her, and her innocent eyes met his again, and he cherished that look; that look that was now as rare as the rarest mineral, "Don't apologize, Liara. We've all changed, and we've all been through rough times, and there'll be plenty of time for social talk when the Reapers are dead and we can enjoy a nice drink on the beach."

Garrus chuckled from behind them, "I like that idea. I'll keep that as a note. 'Defeat Reapers, have drink on beach,' got it. I'll remember the beach chairs, but our new Shadow Broker better remember to bring the drinks. I'll be broke once this is done."

"And I'll know what you've spent all your money on. Although, I can already guess," Liara quipped, smirking at the turian, "Weapon mods? Calibrations?"

"You know me too well. Although I do purchase booze from time to time."

Liara laughed, another rare sound before she turned back to Marcus, a hard expression on her face once more. She hesitated again before leaning forward and wrapping the spectre in a tight hug, Marcus wincing from the pressure she placed on his shoulder and ribs, but ignored it as he reciprocated the gesture.

"I'll miss you," she said softly.

He sighed, "This isn't goodbye Liara; I hate goodbyes. We'll see each other again, its not over until its over."

"You're right," she replied, giggling, "I'm just the sentimental type. I hope to see you again Marcus, and I hope when we do, its side by side, fighting the Reapers, like the old team should be. You, me, Tali, Garrus, Wrex, Kaidan and Ashley's ghost; sending the Reapers straight into the Goddess' barrel."

Marcus frowned as he pulled away, "The goddess has a gun?"

"Yeah, that escalated alot further than I anticipated," Garrus teased, "Consider me a converted...athame...ist?"

"Har-har Garbear," Liara replied and Garrus' expression remained shocked as Kaidan barely held back a laugh, while Tali just chuckled to her heart's content. Wrex just shot the turian a grin, and the sniper himself tried to become anonymous.

Letting Liara pass to say goodbye to the rest of her friends, Marcus held his hand out to Feron, the drell taking it and shaking it, "Goodbye Feron; it was nice to meet you. You're very important to Liara, so please take care of her. The Normandy crew thinks of her, and if you ever need assistance, don't hesitate to call."

The drell nodded in understanding, "Thank you Commander, and I hope we don't need it. There was a time where I wondered why the Shadow Broker would go to so much effort to retrieve a body. I had hoped betraying him and getting chained up for two years would be worth it. I'm glad to say that it was. Farewell, Commander, and I hope we meet again. Kalahira be with you, and may Arashu guide your path."

He bowed in return, and the drell made his leave, and he turned to Tali, ready to tell her to move out when the door behind them opened, and Kal, Kasumi and Samara returned, but this time they escorted a...quarian female? out of the room and towards them, the quarian woman's mask tinted red and her form covered in...the purple swirls of...no...Zorah? A member of Clan Zorah? Who could that be? A relative of Tali perhaps.

Tali turned to them and nodded, Marcus doing the same as Kal came to a stop. Reegar approached Marcus and holstered his rifle, leaning in to whisper to the two of them, "We found this woman inside sir; it turns out the yahg you killed wasn't the Shadow Broker afterall; he was just a pet. I've checked the records, and this woman, one of our own ma'am, seems to be the real Broker. She referred to me by name, but what really got me was that she requested to see you specifically. You and Shepard."

Marcus frowned and Tali turned to look at him, shrugging. He shrugged himself, acknowledging what they both thought:  _it couldn't hurt._ Nodding to Reegar, the quarian marine stepped back and motioned for Kasumi and Samara to step back, weapons trained on the quarian's back. Everything about this quarian ringed like an obvious plot twist; why did he get the feeling he should know this person?

The quarian stepped forward without a word, and Marcus immediately reached for his pistol, hand hovering over it. But he let her continue, the quarian stopping within grabbing distance of Tali, her hands coming to rest on Tali only. She reached up a hand, cupping the woman's cheek tenderly in a overly familiar fashion before facing Marcus, a smile evident in her luminous eyes before she turned back to Tali. And when she spoke, it was with an elderly voice.

"Tali...I...its so good to see you again," the quarian broker stated, "You're as beautiful as I remember; definitely taller, however."

Tali's pistol clattered to the ground from its unholstered position and she gasped loudly, taking a step back in evident shock. She raised a hand accusingly, but immediately dropped it, paralyzed by indecision, and everyone in the room just watched the exchange. Nothing was said before Marcus finally, looking between them in confusion, he turned to the elderly quarian woman and asked the obvious question, "Ma'am, just who are you? And how do you know Tali like that?"

The quarian's eyes met Marcus', "Well, because she's my daughter, and I'm her mother."

"My name is Meru'Zorah."

**{Loading...}**

_November 12, 2185_

_2041 hours._

_Debriefing Room, Normandy-Class Stealth Frigate Normandy SR-2, In Orbit over Hagalaz._

_Commander Marcus Lee Shepard, Chief Engineer Tali'Shepard vas Normandy, Ex-Shadow Broker Meru'Zorah vas Rayya._

"You're dead! I mean, I was there when you  _died_! You can't be alive, its impossible! This is a sick little joke! You're just some quarian impersonating her! I was at her  _side_ when she died!"

"Tali, please-"

"Don't call me that! You have  _no right_ to call me that! You are a  _stranger_ ," Tali snarled, pointing an accusing finger at her so-called-mother across the conference table, "My  _real_ mother wouldn't lie to me about dying and leave me! Meru'Zorah wouldn't do that! She was nothing like my father!"

"Tali please! Let me explain!"

"No, you're done! All I've heard is lies! You are not her! You can't be! She died and she's never coming back..." tears were heard in her voice as she finished, "You hear me...? She's dead!"

Marcus finally decided to break it up, raising his hand to speak and stall them, "Enough!" he turned to Tali, "Please, you at least owe her the benefit of the doubt Tali. She hasn't even explained herself, and you're already shouting her down! You let me explain myself on Freedom's Progress, so why not your own mother?"

She turned to him incredulously, voice laced with anger, "But she  _isn't_ my mother! And you can't seriously believe that she is!"

He shot the same glare at her, "Of course I don't! Her being the Shadow Broker doesn't improve her case, but that doesn't mean I won't hear her out. Then we can decide what's bullshit and what's not, alright!?"

She seemed to melt back before standing tall again, nodding as she braced against the polished table, "Fine, but her answer better be damn good or I might rip her visor open for her disgusting lies. I will not have my mother's memory mocked by a cheap imitation."

Marcus nodded to her, calming down, "That's fair enough, and I will happily assist when... _if_...that time comes," he turned to 'Meru' and spoke again, the quarian standing tall and her hands clasped infront of her lap, "Now, Miss, why don't you explain yourself before my wife decides to kill you for false impersonation?"

She took a deep breath and spoke, her eyes locked onto Tali's, "I did die Tali; technically."

Tali snorted, "I bought that from Marcus and he had legitimate reasons. Don't believe me gullible enough to-"

" _Tali_ ," Marcus growled lowly, turning his head to face her, "Seriously. Give her a chance."

A sigh and she waved her hand for the quarian to continue, "I apologize. Please continue."

The quarian didn't even make a gesture before continuing, as if unaware she had even been interrupted, "I technically died. You were at my death bed Tali, and I remember it vividly. I wept for a full night afterwards, but I never stopped thinking about you. I'm sorry to tell you this, and in retrospect, the entire ruse was cruel, but it had to be done."

"What ruse?" Tali asked, genuinely curious, but a hint of hostility still hidden in her tone.

"My death never happened," she hung her head low in shame, "I, we, faked it. I needed to get off the Fleet, to disappear. I didn't to cease in existence, and for that to happen, I had to die. I'm so sorry, but I had no choice."

"Who's 'we'?" Tali asked, crossing her arms as she glared daggers at the woman, "Who else helped you fake your death?"

"I..." she gulped and shook her head, looking at the ground before meeting Tali's gaze once more, "...Shala did, Tali. She helped me, but noone else knew. Noone else knew about...about what was going on. Your father didn't know, as he'd probably try to stop me, and the others didn't know because they didn't need to. I...I was endangering the Flotilla, and I needed to leave. To die."

Marcus eyed her with confusion while Tali seemed to lose more of her hostility, hope entering her tone as she spoke once more, ever the interrogator, "I...how were you endangering the Fleet? The Meru I knew was a kind person; she loved me and she was gentle. She wasn't a marine, only Admiral of the Patrol Fleet. So answer me this; what could that person have done to endanger the Fleet?"

"She did something bad in the name of clan and family," she replied, "Its complicated, but lets just say that the Flotilla isn't as devoid of crime as you thought it was Tali..."

"Wait, wait, wait," he interrupted, hands held up, and both quarians in the room looked at him instantly. He looked at Tali, eyes wide with surprise, "Your mother was an admiral? And of the Patrol Fleet? Why didn't you tell me?"

"You never asked," she replied bluntly, shrugging, "And she was only admiral for a short time. Her death...opened the position and Shala instantly took the position upon her death. Rael and Gerrel were fairly new at that point, and Xen was only a captain still. Same with Koris."

He nodded, sort of understanding, before he turned back to the ex-Broker and nodded for her to continue. The quarian, meeting his gaze, nodded and turned back to Tali, clearing her throat before continuing, "Well...like I said, the Fleet wasn't as safe as we thought Tali. I got...involved, in some pretty unsafe dealings, and it endangered my position; not just as an admiral, but as your mother. I was effectively putting our family at risk; you included. I couldn't tell Rael or anyone else; only Shala knew, and she kept it a secret."

Tali frowned, leaning her back against the table, "What kind of dealings? I don't see my  _mother_ getting involved in crime. She wasn't that sort of person."

"Still isn't," she replied, and she avoided Tali's responding glare as she continued, "I tried to purchase MAC cannon schematics from a batarian hegemony dreadnought that they had taken from a turian frigate that they had boarded and raided, but when I find out what they wanted, I refused. It was then that they...they started making threats."

Tali was eager for her to continue, "Of what kind?"

Glowing eyes met glowing eyes, "Family based," she shook her head, arms moving from her lap to land on the table, bracing her against it, "They said that if I didn't hand over the the MAC schematics for our liveships that they would...murder my entire family. Starting with you, Tali. All in your sleep. I told them to leave you out of it; that you were only a child, but they didn't care."

"Batarian scumbags," Marcus mumbled under his breath, barely audible, "Child-murdering, slaver pieces of shit."

Tali walked closer, eyes narrowed in morbid curiosity, "But...how could they do that? They couldn't access the fleet."

"They had access to sources though. On the inside," she gulped, "The Pelszaog Clan. They are long time enemies of Clan Zorah. And the batarians said they'd order them to kill my family if I didn't do it..."

"Oh keelah..." Tali gasped.

She nodded, "I did it; for family. I wanted to protect you; you were too young! And Rael...keelah, I loved him, and I loved you. I did what I did to protect our family, but in the end, I put myself at risk doing it! So I handed them the defense codes for older quarian vessels from the Rannochian era, and that pissed them off. So they sent the Pelszaog Clan to kill me. I became their prime target; I had no choice. If I disappeared, you would be safe. They only wanted me. So I met with Shala, came up with a plan, and set it in motion. I...I had no choice. It was cruel, but I had to protect you. I had to keep you and Rael safe."

"We faked a ventilation malfunction on the Rayya, as you know, and I pretended to die. Shala hired specific doctors she could trust and filled them in, so they knew what to do," she coughed, a sob echoing through her voice, "And when she could, Shala had me shipped off to the Citadel, where I spent the rest of my years until I met one of the Shadow Broker's agents, and requested to sign up. I saw an opportunity, and I took it."

Tali nodded, "The Palszaog Clan...they were reported murdered many years ago...you...?"

She nodded grimly, "Yes, yes I did Tali. I did it. I was taken to the Shadow Broker's base, and I took over. The yahg was surprising, but when I found out how to hack his systems, taking over was easy. I helped him kill the salarian broker, and in return, I would lead, and he would follow; we shared the power. This way, I could protect you while not being directly involved. No Admiral duties holding me back. I also...also saw how Rael neglected you. But I got to watch you grow up."

She looked up and nodded at Tali, "I had the Palszaog Clan murdered, and their leader exiled for being involved in a foreign outside force. Their leader was later gangbashed by a few turians a few days later on Omega. I also found the dreadnought; and the hegemony still hasn't found it since. Of course, they wouldn't be able to, considering it now lives within a sun."

But then her glum expression turned into a smile, one of happiness, "The best bit Tali, was that I got to watch you change, mature, move on. I watched your pilgrimage. I watched you join Marcus Shepard, and I watched you stop Sovereign, Saren Arterius and the geth from destroying the Citadel. I watched over you after he died. I watched over you on your mission against the Collectors," and her smile only widened at her last words, "And now I get to see you; as a grown woman; married and a marine veteran. I'm so proud of you. I'm sorry I couldn't be there for your wedding."

Tali immediately waved her hand before her, once again anger, "I don't believe that for one second! Why would my mother send agents to attack her own people! To try and kill  _me_ and Shepard! Why would she help the Collectors in recovering my  _body?_ "

"I didn't. As you'll remember, I had a pet. A yahg," she shook her head, slamming her fist into the table, "Should have killed him when I had the chance! Everyone of those attacks was done behind my back and without consent! I ordered him to bring you two to my base unharmed, but he persisted in trying to kill you, calling me insane and out of control! He did it again, but then he knocked me unconscious and locked me inside my office. He took over. But when you came and took him out, I almost rejoiced. You were here, and you were...grown up."

"A forgeable story," Tali leaned forward and hissed in her ear, "I want proof.  _Irrefutable_  proof."

It seems she instantly knew what to say, "Remember what you said to me, Tali? On my 'death' bed?" she asked softly, fresh tears flowing down her cheeks, "Remember...remember how I said I loved you? How I asked Rael to take care of you? How...how...how I hoped you would become my little galactic hero one day? How I asked...I asked...asked you not to let anything hold you back in life but yourself?"

By the time she finished, Tali was sobbing, falling back against the table as she cried. Marcus was instantly moving around the table to comfort his wife, but Meru held a hand up to halt him, the spectre only stopping when he saw her wrap her arms around Tali, embracing her tightly. Tali's arms quickly followed suit, holding her tight against her.

"Mother...mother..." she mumbled through her sobs as Meru rocked her back and forth, "You're...you're...you're alive! Keelah, ancestors bless me...keelah..."

"Sssssshhhhhh..." Meru soothed, "Its alright. Everything will be alright. I'm here now, and I'm never going to leave you again."

A few moments passed, and Tali finally pulled away from Meru, sniffing and leaning back against the table, sighing, "Keelah, I was such a bitch to you. My own mother. I can't believe...the things I said..."

"Are in the past. You're mistrust was understandable. You believed me dead a long time ago, and my return came as a shock," she nodded, turning to Marcus and smiling, "But it would seem you weren't quite as alone as I suspect you were. I expected you to find a nice man to marry Tali..."

Her eyes widened, and Tali stepped forward in Marcus' defense, "He...!"

Meru immediately finished for her, "...is perfect! Keelah, you caught  _the_ man, Tali! He may be human, but he's an alpha male! You chose well for your husband; I'm happy for you. And from the information I've gathered, he loves you very much. A very good catch Tali."

Marcus rubbed the back of his neck embarassingly, heat rushing to his cheeks, "I'm standing right here, you know."

Meru could only laugh, "Oh, I know," she leaned in closer to Tali, whispering her last sentence, "He's as dense as my reports say, apparently, too."

"I heard that, you know."

"And as nosey," she leant back, shaking her head as she shook her humor away, straightening her posture before eying both of them, letting Tali's giggling die off as she faced both of them, "As much as I'd love to stay on this ship, I am no longer the Shadow Broker, and would like to return to the Fleet. They deserve to know I survived."

"Can't you stay?" Tali practically begged, "We have so much to catch up on! You may be the Broker, but there's alot that happens behind the scenes too you know."

"And we'll have plenty to talk about on the ride there," she stated, facing Marcus, "Won't we?"

He fazed out for a moment, but quickly shook his head, faced Meru and nodded, "Yes, of course we do. Alot to catch up on. Our cabin?"

"Yes please. Do lead the way."

Marcus simply shook his head as he lead the two women out of the conference room and headed for the armoury, point of intent being the elevator. He could only inwardly laugh at the insanity of it all.

_This day just gets weirder and weirder. Shadow Broker is yahg, who isn't really the Broker, Liara becomes the Shadow Broker, and the real Shadow Broker turns out to be a quarian female who just happens to be Tali's dead mother who's not really dead. What a mindfuck._

But as he eyed Tali's mum out of his corner of vision, currently talking with Tali, he could only smile.

_Can't argue with results, though._

**{Loading...}**

_November 12, 2185_

_2109 hours._

_'Humanity's Sanctum,' Upper Levels, Cronos Station, Anadius System._

_The Illusive Man, General Oleg Petrovsky._

Smoke trailed from his cigarette as he let a breath of air escape him, blowing the smoke outwards as the tip of the cigarette burned bright red. He pulled it away from his mouth, dipping it in the ash tray next to him before nodding, "Very good, Oleg. Although I'm surprised you let Aria live."

Petrovsky stood on the QEC, his holographic form glowing a bright orange in the darkness of the office, the only light being Anadius behind them, the general's hands clasped behind his crisp, white Cerberus uniform as they always were. He hesitated before answering, but answered in the same professionalism that he always did, "Her death was not required for Omega's fall into our hands. I did not see a harm in letting her go.

The Illusive Man nodded in understanding, "That is your decision, and I will not judge you for it, but I would keep an eye on her. She may cause problems in the near future," he brought the cig to his lips again and took a deep breath, exhaling and letting the smoke drift freely before bringing it away and speaking again, "Although Ashe's death is another matter."

Petrovsky was quick to defend that decision, "His death was necessary. Even if he had not already been transforming into an adjutant, he was a liabillity. He constantly disobeyed my commands at every turn, and almost set an adjutant loose in a civilian area. I could not let that happen, and operational necessity dictated him to be terminated. I'm sorry if you deem that unacceptable, but like you said, it was my decision to make as his superior, and I did it. I will see to it that he is replaced by someone else. Someone who isn't Kai Leng."

"Leng would be my last choice as a commander," TIM replied, "Do not insult me by suggesting such a thing, although I understand your precarious position did demand quick thinking, and I understand that. My only concern was the command gap Ashe's death opened, and I'm glad it is being filled. His life was of no concern to me; we are all expendable, but only if it means the defense of humanity. Even I may be expendable when the time comes; I just hope whoever succeeds me knows what to do for humanity, and when best to do it. I created Cerberus for that sole reason; and none else."

"I understand Illusive Man," Petrovsky replied, "We are currently securing the station and my troops are already enforcing martial law. I have instated myself as the new 'ruler' of Omega, and I am making sure that the adjutants are well-contained; an outbreak could be disatrous for our operations."

"Indeed. Very well general, keep me posted. I want an update in one month. Illusive Man out," with that, he disconnected the call, and Petrovsky's holographic form slowly melted away into nothing, before winking out, and he was about to swivel in his chair when Geoff's voice came through his comm.

"Sir?"

He tapped the holoscreen, responding, "Yes, Lieutenant Dielheart?" He took a sip of his drink as he waited.

"You requested to see Eva when it was completed," he replied, "It has been finished, and she has recently arrived at the station. She is awaiting final approval to see you. Orders?"

A look of nervousness crossed his features and for the first time since the First Contact War, his calm facade dropped and he almost stuttered, "I...send her... _it,_  in. Noone is to interrupt me, and put all calls on hold for me to take after my inspection."

"Yes sir. I've sent it up now," Geoff's voice replied, slightly concerned, before he disconnected, and the Illusive Man silently waited.  _She's simply a robotic clone of the real thing. Doctor Eva Core, the woman you befriended and loved died on Palaven, at the hands of Saren Arterius' brother. This is merely an infiltration unit; little else._ He tried so hard to convince himself of that cold fact.

So why did it haunt him so much? Why was the Illusive Man, ever the calm enigma and hidden shield of humanity, so nervous?

What felt like a few seconds was actually several minutes of waiting as he was jolted from his thoughts by a knock on the door. He hurriedly shouted for the offender to enter, and he sat up, putting back on his calm facade; all of which almost disappeared when she entered and stepped into the light.

The redesign was  _perfect_ , the engineers in the Styx Cell having done an excellent job at recrafting her. If not for the fact that he knew what she was, noone would know that she was a synthetic machine. The hair, the skin, the eyes, everything; it seemed so life-like. The only problem w _as_ the eyes.

Those damn eyes.

They drilled into his skull; lifeless, soulless, cold.

Waiting for commands.

Eyes connected to a computer inside her head, not a human brain.

He suddenly remembered the real Eva and memories assaulted him. He remembered Shanxi, and how it had felt to be by her side, fighting the turians on the ground as part of the resistance. How they had been captured as POWs. How they had woken up to learn that the war was over. How they had spoken with General Williams. How they ended up meeting Saren Arterius face to face and went to the turian homeworld, Palaven. And how she had died at Saren's brother's hands, who had been indoctrinated by a Reaper artifact inside the temple...that's how he had known of the Reaper's existence, how he found out, but he was young back then...

He had been Jack Harper.

And Doctor Eva Core had died, in his arms.

All that stood before him was a cheap imitation of the real time.

Cooly, he responded, "What is your name?"

"Doctor Eva Core," it responded, its voice sounding so much like Eva's, it was scared. They had obviously taken the audio files he gave them and implemented them well, "Part of Project Eva. EVA is an acronym for Enhanced Virtual Assault, but also refers to dead associate of Illusive Man's. I am an infiltration unit, built solely to replace rogue AI, Enhanced Defense Intelligence, and to combat other AI programs."

Such precision; it was nothing like Eva at all. He simply nodded as he responded, "Very good. To remember anything that the original Eva remembers?"

Eva frowned and hesitated, searching its databanks before responding, "I do not. There is no record of any personality imprint or memory upload. The original corpse of Doctor Eva Core could not be recovered; location unknown."

He nodded, hating how the word 'corpse' was used to describe his long-dead love, "Excellent. You now serve me and only me, Eva, do you understand that? When I give you an order, you follow it. When I tell you to do something, you do it. If I tell you to kill me, will you do it?"

A moment's hesitation, followed by the AI's response, "Affirmative."

 _What did you expect her to have? Morals?_ _ **Its**_ _a machine!_ "Very good. You will head to the nearest power plant facility to recharge your cells, understood?"

"Affirmative," Eva replied as robotically as it had before, "I will be located at Power Coupling Y-07 if further orders are needed to be delivered. I will be fully charged and awaiting orders."

He nodded, and Eva left the room, door closing and locking behind her. He shook his head before swivelling around in his chair, suddenly forgetting about the Shadow Broker and Shepard and his takeover of Omega. All he could think of was the synthetic clone of his lost love he had created.

But there was no point dwelling on it. He was humanity's shield.

A shield needed to be in prime condition.

So he straightened his posture, took another sip of his drink, and let his look pierce the sun.

He was the Illusive Man, Shield of Humanity, Leader of Cerberus.

And he would do anything to uphold his duty.

**{Loading...}**

_November 13, 2185_

_0618 hours._

_CIC, Normandy-Class Stealth Frigate Normandy SR-2, In FTL inbound for the Citadel._

_Commander Marcus Lee Shepard, Yeoman Kelly Chambers._

It had only been several hours since they had assaulted the Shadow Broker's base and took out the Shadow Broker.

Several hours since Liara and Feron had stayed behind, the former becoming the new Shadow Broker.

Hours since he had met Tali's mum, now ex-Broker, and now had her onboard; a woman who was supposed to be dead.

So many things had changed in those few hours and as Marcus, standing on the podium overlooking the CIC, galaxy map hovering infront of him, arms braced against the railing and looking down into its milky white depths, he could only think of what was to come. Soon they'd arrive at the Citadel and drop off Wrex, and they would then take Meru back to the Migrant Fleet. But once that was done, what then? Continue negoitations with the quarians? Start them? Introduce them to Legion? Would could he really do to further the preparations for the Reaper invasion?

And it was with a sigh and a close of his eyes that he remembered Wrex would not be the only one to be dropped off on the Citadel now. After speaking with Meru, Doctor Chakwas had confronted him about Jack, and he had learnt that she had the resources to keep her stabilized, but not enough to save her from certain death; which meant sending her to a hospital, just like they had done with Miranda.

The doctor had suggested sending her to Huerta Memorial Hospital; located in the Shalta Wards of the Citadel, and he had agreed to send her there, hearing that the place was one of the best hospitals on the space station; his visit would be short, considering the Council's general dislike of him, and he didn't want to give them a reason to ground his ship; again.

He squeezed the railing, quietly mumbling a goodbye to Jack. The convict hadn't woken up, and wouldn't wake up until she was in hospital, as apparently Chakwas had put her into a chemically-induced coma, as seemed to be the norm now.  _First we lose Zaeed and Miranda, and now Wrex, Jack and Liara...one by one, my crew leaves, and I'm powerless to help..._ Zaeed, Wrex and Liara had left willingly, but what of Miranda and Jack? Crippled in battle, in severe pain, and having to be sent to an outsourced hospital because they were short on supplies. Who was next...? How long until the whole crew was picked off?

How long until Tali was the one in a coma?

He shook those horrific thoughts from his mind, but he couldn't stop Harbinger's from seeping back into his head.

_You will falter, you will waver, and you will die..._

Those damn words...just what the hell was Harbinger eluding to? What the hell was that Reaper thinking? He wondered...no, it couldn't be. Reapers may be powerful beyond imagination, but they weren't prophecizers; it was unlike them. But Harbinger sure did seem obsessed with me completing this 'Prophecy...'

"Commander, are you okay?" Kelly's voice roused him from his thoughts and he immediately stood up, eyes turning to look onto the yeoman's, who stood at her terminal, wearing tight civilian garb, while her ginger hair was brushed back. He allowed a small smile to cross his lips, and he slowly nodded, his smile growing larger as he did before responding.

"Yeah, I'm fine Kelly. Thanks," he let out an exhale of breath as he stood up, hands moving away from the railing as he left the podium, walking down the few steps there were and coming to stand infront of her, "Just alittle distracted; the whole taking down the Shadow Broker and all. I mean...so much has happened. You have-"

"The Shadow Broker being defeated, only to reveal said Broker was a pet and the real one was a quarian who happened to be your wife's supposedly dead mother who actually isn't dead; Liara frees her lover and becomes the new Shadow Broker, Wrex is leaving, Liara left, and Jack is going to have to be sent to a hospital, just like Miranda, to save her life, which means temporarily leaving the crew," she had basically read him like a book, and he opened his mouth to respond, but she merely waved it away, a warm smile growing across her attractive features, "Again, I'm a very good psychologist."

"Of course you are. Illusive Man wouldn't have picked you for my crew if you weren't the best of the best," he deadpanned, and she giggled slightly, cringing at her former association with Cerberus, and Marcus merely shrugged it off, "Anyway, was there something you wanted? I doubt it was to read me off and show off your skills in psychology."

She laughed, and he genuinely believed she was recovering from her PTSD, "Of course commander; Thane wants to speak to you in Life Support. He says he wishes to speak with you privately, and that it involves personal matters only you will understand. Also, Grunt would like to speak with you on similiar grounds; he will be in the Cargo Port on Deck Four."

He nodded, "Thank you Kelly. Keep me posted on anything else," and he quickly looked up at the ceiling, "And EDI, make sure Joker is actually piloting the ship, and not looking at porn."

"You're no fun commander, I swear it," Joker replied over the comm, obviously chimed in, "Not like we can't just put autopilot on this thing. What do you think is going to happen; we'll crash into a tree?"

"Knowing you, I don't think so," he jested, nodding to Kelly appreciatively as he moved for the elevator, tapping the interface to open the door as he stepped inside, "Its the things you won't see coming I'm worried about. You know, like pirates?"

"I am more than capable of detecting such things with my defensive tactics programming," EDI dictated, a lace of what he assumed was...offense?...in its tone as he hit the button for the Crew Deck, standing firmly as the box began its descent.

"Sure thing EDI," he replied, grinning as he did, "Just keep an eye on Joker and we won't have to worry at all, will we?"

"Of course not Commander," EDI stated, "I will have all surveillance cameras on him. He will not be watching explicit sexual intercourse videos or pictures while I am in operation."

"Great, the overlord has gone all PRISM program on me. Next you'll be telling me you're initiating the NSA on the Normandy, Shepard," Joker replied, most likely rolling his eyes, "No porn, got it commander. We'll be at the Citadel by tomorrow, in case you wanted to know."

"Thanks Joker," he finished, rolling his own eyes and his grin slipping off his face as the doors opened to the Crew Deck and he stepped out, assuming a more professional stance. Straightening his uniform, he approached Life Support and lightly rapped his one of his knuckles on the door as a knock. Hearing Thane's muffled 'enter', he tapped the interface and stepped inside, walking all the way to the end where Thane sat behind his makeshift desk on the left, hands clasped on the table before him.

Looking up from the grey, metal surface, the drell assassin's eyes met Marcus' and he nodded to the chair opposite him, "Please Shepard, take a seat. I have something I wish to discuss with you," there was a hint of sadness in Thane's tone as he addressed the N7, and Marcus immediately didn't like it.  _Something's not right...has Kolyat been hurt? Does he need me to help protect him or get him out of trouble again? What's going on?_

Following the drell's instruction, he pulled out the second seat and sat in it, clasping his own hands on the desk as his eyes stayed locked with Thane's, "Kelly told me you wanted to inform me of something personal. Is this about Kolyat? Has he gotten into trouble again? Did that batarian slaver ring who murdered your wife target him? If you want, we can help."

The drell shook his head, a slight smile escaping across his lips from the usual stoic demeanour of the assassin, "Nothing like that, Commander. Kolyat, as far as I know, is perfectly healthy and safe, and working under the employ of Captain Bailey, as he has since we liberated him from that assassination attempt on the Citadel a couple of months ago. Everything is fine with him; however, it is about Kolyat, but also about me. I have to come a decision regarding this mission."

He quirked an eyebrow upwards and slowly nodded, not liking where this was going, given the still melancholic look in his eyes.  _There's something he isn't saying_ , "A decision about what?"

"My continued part in it," the assassin leaned back, straightening his uniform while also taking a deep breath, coughing slightly as he did, "Your mission, our mission, against the Reapers is one that will be bloody; I saw that when I first joined your team, when I met the Collectors on the field of battle for the first time and witnessed the power this Harbinger possessed. I knew what was coming, and at first, it terrified me. I am not easily terrified."

He was surprised by that, "You? Terrified? You bet that's unheard of. But to be honest, Sovereign kinda spooked me when I first spoke to it too, so don't feel left out on that."

Thane smiled alittle at that before dropping it, "At first, I did not believe the Reapers to be anything more than myth; and if they were real, their abilities were greatly exaggerated. But when I first fought on the battlefield at your side and encountered one of its servants; it shocked me. The sheer power, how its voice seems to echo through you..." he gulped, shaking his head, "It is horrifying. I realized just what kind of enemy we would face; and what that would require. Like it or not Shepard, this war will require sacrifice. I suspect many on this team will die before the war is over, and others will fall to their indoctrination. I've come to terms with the possibility of my own death."

He shook his head, leaning forward, "Thane, that won't happen. I can't guarantee we'll all live, but you have to believe-"

"I do believe. I believe we can win this. That we will prevail," the drell leaned forward, eyes unable to leave Shepard's, hands clenching, "But deaths are needed for victory, and we must be willing to make sacrifices. I have accepted that I may be one of those sacrifices. I am a terminally-ill drell who is the final months of his life. I'll either die in the war, or I'll die shortly after it from the collapse of my own lungs. It might not even be the Reapers that kill me in battle; maybe it'll be simple asphyxiation on the battlefield from oxygen deprivation. But I need to make closure. I need to see Kolyat one last time."

Marcus nodded, seemingly coming to the same conclusion the drell had, and for a moment, they both remained silent, simply eying each other. Marcus gulped, and he spoke first, crushing the silence instantly and awkwardly, "I...Thane, are you asking permission to leave the Normandy?"

"I am," Thane replied coughing, getting it under control again before continuing, "In the time I got to speak with Kolyat, it was during a rushed shore leave and after saving him from C-Sec incarceration, and that was after I practically abandoned him. He is my son, and he deserves to have a father. I want to spend the last days, months, years, I have with him, to know that all areas are closed, and I can rest in peace knowing I made amends for my abandonment, and that he is happy knowing I have accepted my fate. Please, I request permission to leave the Normandy until such time as the Reaper invasion begins. When it does, I will gladly join you, but until then, I must choose family as a priority. I am sorry."

"Don't apologize Thane. Don't  _ever_ apologize," he leaned back and rubbed the back of his neck, meeting the drell's eyes and nodding in understanding, "We're heading to the Citadel to drop off Wrex and Jack before heading off to the Migrant Fleet. We'll be there in one day if that's when you wish to leave."

"That time would be most appropriate and the most convenient," Thane replied, stretching his lithe, green fingers, "I am only sorry for having to leave you. This crew has grown on me, I'll admit, and it saddens me to leave. It feels like I have been here for years; to know the crew as not just comrades, but as family, is a powerful thing. I wish I could say, but when it comes to this crew and my own son, I will always choose Kolyat. Its a simple fact I've come to accept over our time together, and if I'm honest, I've known since the beginning that this time would come for us to part ways, if only temporarily."

He nodded, smiling, "And I completely understand Thane. Its sad to see you go, but I'm glad you stayed as long as you did. You are a credit to this team, and if you ever want to return or need our help, you know who to call. We're all family here, and we don't abandon family. When I first met you, I didn't trust you, but I'm glad I've managed to. You're a unique person, Thane. Not many seek the path of redemption as you do. That's a rare thing. Hold onto that; let it fill you and make you feel alive. Kolyat will need it, because admit it or not, he needs you. And you need him. So go, spend what time you have left with him, and when the war drums beat, be ready to answer the galaxy's call."

Thane nodded, standing up and moving to stand beside the table as he held out his hand, "It was an honor to serve beside you, Shepard, and I look forward to fighting at your side again. It months, years, it won't matter, only that we will."

He smiled warmly as he also stood up, taking his hand and shaking it as he nodded in a saddened manner, "As it was to serve with you, Thane. Take care."

And with that, he left the room, leaving Thane behind. He reentered the elevator and hit the button for deck four, waiting as it descended. He crossed his arms and leaned against the back wall, shaking his head at the recent turn of events.  _Now Thane's leaving too. I'll miss him, but I understand his reasons. We all need somekind of closure after all that's happened and will happen. God knows I wish I could spend my last days with my mother, aunt, and wife..._

When the doors opened, he immediately walked down the corridor and knocked on the Cargo Port door, Grunt's rough growl all the answer he needed as he entered. The krogan turned to him an instant, standing tall and proud, showing just how much taller he was than his battlemaster. But Marcus wasn't looking at that; only the claymore attached to the back of his waist and the mattock on his back, followed by the grenade bandolier.  _Oh please, not you too..._

"Battlemaster," Grunt reported, "Chambers sent you? Good. I need to talk to you."

"You want to leave the crew too?" he asked, and the krogan looked at him in shock before slowly nodding, Marcus just shaking his head with a humorless chuckle, "Thane's also leaving. But I don't understand; why do you want to leave Grunt? I thought you wanted to fight more enemies."

He nodded, pounding a fist on his chest, "I was young, arrogant and head-strong battlemaster, but you taught me one thing, if anything," he Marcus' eyes with his hard, steely-blue ones in an instant, a grin crossing his face, "Wait for your enemy to come for you, and the glory will be worth ten times more. I've learnt that well, and know that there is no place for a supersoldier like me on this ship anymore. The Shadow Broker has been destroyed and replaced by a usurper of ours, so what is there left for me to do? What enemies are left for me to fight? The Reapers will come Shepard, I know that, but for now, they are not here, and I am, and I'm not okay with that."

"I've learnt much on this journey, but I knew that once the Shadow Broker was defeated, I would be purposeless once more. I am a machine of war; built for constant combat, and I am not used to peace time like this," with a nod of his own head, as if trying to convince himself as well as Shepard, he gritted his teeth, "I talked with Chieftain Wrex; about returning to Tuchanka. I have decided to return with him. To return to my homeworld. To my people."

Marcus solemnly nodded, finding a crate to sit on and dragging it over, plopping himself down on it as he met Grunt's steely gaze, "I...understand. But what do you plan to do once you return to Tuchanka?"

"Fullfill my purpose as a member of Clan Urdnot," Grunt replied, beating his chest once more before slamming his fists together with a colossal thud, "Wrex has promised me access to the female camp, and I will fullfill all breeding requests given to me after completion of my rite; I'm going to be very busy. He. He. He," he finished with his slow, methodical, sadistic chuckle, and Marcus could only snort at his attempt at a joke, "After that, I will join the krogan commandos and Wrex we'll see what happens after; he wants to groom me for leadership, Shepard. Wants to give me command of my own unit. Says I will be valuable in the battle against the Reapers."

Marcus smirked, slapping his knee, "That's Wrex for you; but if he believes you can do it, you damn well better believe you can do it. I've never known him to make a choice like that carelessly. There's alot of responsibility in being a leader; its not something to be taken lightly. You have men under your command, and their lives weigh heavily on you."

"Of course battlemaster," Grunt replied, now ever the student.

Marcus continued with his lecture, "The key to being a good leader is to not only keep your men safe, but make them respect you. If they respect you, they'll be more loyal, and a loyal soldier is stronger than ten commandos. Just look out of our squad; it isn't the skills that define us, its ourselves. We defeated the Collectors because we believed we could, because this people believed in each other, and in me. That's why we won. We will beat the Reapers using the same ideology. So Grunt, remember this; when you take command, make them respect you, not because your powerful, but because your like them. You are krogan, and as long as you draw breath, there isn't anything that can't face down. Hell, you faced down a thresher maw. That's bound to earn some respect; it worked for Wrex at least."

Grunt grinned, nodding, "You are wise, battlemaster, and I will follow your advise upon my return to Tuchanka. And when you call for krogan support in defeating the Reapers, we will answer, and me and my unit will stand at your side. Remember what I said when I first left the tank?"

Marcus remembered that all too avidly, "You wanted your name?"

He waved his hand, "No, remember what I said about my enemies?"

A bit of realization dawned on him, and the spectre's grin turned into a nostalgic smile, "You said you'd be honored to pit them against me."

"Let the Reapers be those enemies," the krogan grinned, "I will pit them against you, and standing at your side, as your krantt, we will defeat them together. All of us."

"You've definitely changed Grunt," he sighed, chuckling, "My little krogan is all grown up."

He shook his head, standing tall as Marcus climbed to his feet, "Bigger than you, Shepard."

"Keep thinking that Grunt," Marcus quipped back, "There's a difference between bigger in size, and bigger in spirit. Remember that."

"I will battlemaster," Grunt concluded, and it felt like Marcus was saying goodbye to the krogan. He could only nod and accept his bone-crushing hug before leaving the room, entering the room and slamming the button for Deck One, watching the doors close. He felt trapped, as if everyone he ever knew was leaving him slowly, one by one.

_Liara, Wrex, Jack, Thane, Grunt. Five names, all leaving. What happens next?_

That was the ever present question.

What happens next?

**"Thane and Grunt leaving was saddening, and it was only going to get worse."**

**\- Tali'Shepard pav Rannoch.**

**"So much worse. Harbinger was right; the Requiem was coming."**

_**A/N:** _

_**Yes, Meru'Zorah was the Shadow Broker all along. Now, tbh, I had heavily debated to myself whether I should implement her as the Shadow Broker at all. At first, it was a fantastic idea, but as I grew closer to the big reveal, I began to doubt myself. I've seen pretty bad plot twists in my time, and I didn't know whether this would annoy/piss off or cause you all to squeal in delight and pat me on the back for a twist well done.** _

_**I planned on removing the uncertainty all together by making the quarian broker someone else, but I was already past the bit where I stated 'it will be someone you know,' and I couldn't very well make it Peta, as that would be a much more unrealistic plot twist. So I kinda...'winged' it in a way...** _

_**So tell me, do you like it or not? Tell me in the review section; tell me if it sucked, was decent, was awesome, or was poor. I don't care, just give me a rating.** _

_**And this is where things start to get...drifting. As we slowly build up to Arrival, more of the Normandy crew will leave, but legitimate developments will be provided to explain them. I know Myron, you don't like that idea, but I've gone too far into the Holocaust script to pull out now; however, some crew not featured in the ME3 squad roster will return, including favourites like Kasumi; she's my favourite romance (if she could be); second only to Tali.** _

_**I hope to have Chapter 27 out next week! Until then, I've got some more Walking Dead to watch, and a Halo playthrough to get through in preparation for Halo 2 Anniversary's release. I'm so damn excited!** _


	28. Duty Calls, I Answer

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Normandy visits the Citadel. Gerrel rallies his people to prepare for war. Legion decides to return to Rannoch. Mordin creates a life-changing serum for Tali.

**REQUIEM**

**CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN:**

**DUTY CALLS, I ANSWER**

_November 14, 2185_

_0858 hours._

_Main Dock, Level 27, Zakera Ward, The Citadel._

_Commander Marcus Lee Shepard, Chief Engineer Tali'Shepard vas Normandy, Assassin Thane Krios, Soldier Urdnot Grunt, Chieftain Urdnot Wrex._

The skycar quickly descended upon the landing platform; the area being as conveniently clear as it always was. Marcus directed it to land dead center on the middle and disabled the car's engines, switching off the console via his omni-tool and opening the doors as he stepped out into the Zakera Ward Dock.

As always, the C-Sec customs manager was arguing with someone for what reason? A turian bringing in a traditional knife. Only C-Sec. The same C-Sec officers stood on guard with their weapons in lower parry, and skycars wizzed by overheard, accompanied by the crowds down below them. The Citadel was so much like his last visit, but it felt like he hadn't been here in years.

A pity he had to be here for reasons that didn't involve a simple shore leave.

Avina, the Citadel's VI tourist guide interface who took the form of a pulsing blue asari hologram, droned on about the Zakera Wards features to a human couple as Marcus, wearing just his N7 hoodie, cap and blue jeans with his paladin pistol underneath, moved towards the Customs Main Corridor, Tali, Thane, Grunt and Wrex following behind him.

They had arrived an hour ago, with Chakwas immediately sending Jack to Huerta Memorial on the kodiak. He had heard an update from her not too long ago that the shuttle had arrived at Huerta Memorial which, big surprise, was now under the management of Doctor Chloe Michel, the same russian doctor who he had saved in her med clinic two years ago from Fist's thugs, and that she was undergoing surgery. Chakwas had stayed behind to oversee it, seeing the convict as 'largely her responsibility.'

Thane, Wrex and Grunt were only accompanying them for final goodbyes. It still saddened him to know that two of his squadmates, who he considered good friends, were leaving, but he understood their reasons, and knew it was for the greater good. Besides, it wasn't truly goodbye. They would see each other again, on the field of battle, and when the Reapers were just wrecks in space and on the ground, they would celebrate. But for now, they had to part ways. It was a fact he had come to terms with, and so had they.

He moved down through the corridor, letting the metal detector run a scan on them one by one before they moved through the door at the end, Thane remarking under his breath that C-Sec had only fixed one of the problems with their security since their last visit, and he had almost chuckled when he met Bailey's gaze, the C-Sec captain nodding as he moved up to his desk, hand outstretched. The officer quickly took the hand, squeezing it tightly as he shook it.

"Shepard, didn't expect to see you again for a long while," Bailey greeted, a smile accompanying his thick british accent, "Thought the Council might have scared you off. I don't blame you; they're like damn leeches, those three. Anderson seems to be the only one getting anything done that doesn't involve corporate buttkissing, but I guess the Council got sick of him, or the Alliance Parliament did, because they replaced him with Donnel Udina of all people! Did you hear about that?"

Marcus pretended to be surprised as he braced himself against the captain's desk, "You're joking. That son of a bitch became human councilor? How did Anderson get kicked out?"

The man tsked, shaking his head slightly as he wiped his forehead, "He didn't get kicked out Shepard; he resigned. Probably got tired of the Council's bullshit, and decide to rein in what he earned and piss off. Rumor has it he's gone back to the Alliance; and they're thinking of promoting him to Vice Admiral, for all the good it'll do; Arcturus Parliament will do anything to keep him quiet, I can guess. But you can bet the position went to Udina; Parliament flocked to him like a couple of birds. Pathetic, to be honest. Never liked Udina. Far too right-wing for my liking. You'd swear he was Cerberus or Terra Firma the way he talks about humanity, but he gets the job done better than Anderson, I'll give him that."

Marcus snorted, "Never liked Udina myself, but he's a politician; they're all good at their jobs. Let the Council be idiots, and life will run as normal."

Bailey almost guffawed as he shuffled the datapads on his desk, "And I'll still be neck-deep political blowjobs and bloody lawyers. That last lawyer, the one for Elias Kelham, was wanting to have me charged for corruption for disrespect of his 'client's' living space, but apparently lifted it when he found out you were a Spectre and had authorized it," Bailey sighed, waving a hand at him, "You Spectres have it easy; blow shit up for no good reason and you get let off with a pat on the back and a golden smiley sticker. When I do the same thing, I get smear campaigns, anti-corruption slogans, and the Executor clips me across the ear for being a bad boy. You spectres have no idea how lucky you are. But I doubt you're here to hear my problems, so I'll let you all be and get back to work."

"Actually, Thane as a question for you," Marcus stated, turning away from the desk and stepping back as Thane assumed the position he had before, hands clasped behind his back in his omniprofessional manner.

"Mr. Krios," Bailey immediately declared, clasping his hands ontop of the desk, eyes making contact with the drell's immediately, "I gather you're here to see your son, Kolyat? He's currently off running a few errands. He's still paying off that Community Corrrection Order I convinced the executor to give him. He was five inches away from signing up for the CREDIT (Court Referral and Evaluation of Drug Intervention Treatment) program, had I not pitched my two cents worth. He should be back in a couple of minutes. Just wait here for him, I'll go radio him on the officer's channel."

Thane nodded, waiting silently as Bailey activated his omni-tool and contacted his officer escorting Kolyat. The drell turned to Marcus, holding out his hand once more and he took it gladly, shaking it, "This is goodbye, for now. I hope we meet again soon, Commander. My life is growing ever too short."

"You should check in at Huerta Memorial every once and a while to keep your symptoms under check," Marcus suggested, pulling his hand away after completing the handshake, "That's what Doctor Chakwas would suggest you do."

Thane smiled, nodding to him, "I will do that. Thank you," he turned to Tali, still smiling, "And goodbye to you too, Tali. I hope you two enjoy what's left of your honeymoon before the storm comes. We all need some happiness in the shadow of horror."

Tali courteously nodded, holding out her own hand. Thane took it, shaking it as well before both parties pulled away, Tali smiling behind her mask, "I will, and take care of yourself Thane. Your son will need you; now more than ever, and there'll people who'll want to hurt you. I hope you remain well and enjoy what time you have left; I know we will."

Thane met her eyes and nodded solemnly, "I will; Arashu and Kalahira watch over your both."

Thane said his goodbyes to Grunt and Wrex before walking over, quickly leaving as he heard Kolyat yell out upon approach. The four of them watched Thane walk towards him until Kolyat wrapped his father in a tight hug, Thane reciprocating, where they both turned away to grant them privacy. With Thane gone, both Tali and Marcus turned to look at Wrex and Grunt.

The spectre let out an audible sigh, following it up with a weak smile as he shot his hand out, something which Wrex ignored and simply wrapped his arms around him, pulling him into a tight embrace. He managed to choke out a chuckle before the krogan released him, Grunt quickly doing the same thing before letting go of him.

Patting himself down, he met Wrex and Grunt's gazes, shaking his head, "I...I don't know what to say, you two. All I can tell you is what I've said already. I'm going to miss you, but I understand that what you're doing is necessary, and send you my approval. Just...just look after yourselves. No matter how united it is, Tuchanka is still a pretty unwelcoming place," Marcus stated, shrugging.

Wrex just laughed, shaking his head at the N7, "You think we don't understand the dangers of our homeworld? I've weathered it for two years, and I'm pretty sure this welp will fit in just fine," he hit Grunt's shoulder with a clenched fist, the younger krogan merely shooting the chieftain a glare before turning back to Marcus, "Besides, Wreav wouldn't dare try to hurt me, and the krogan respect me; only Gatatog Uvenk and the Weyrloc didn't, and we've taken care of them. We'll be fine Shepard, and I'll be sure to shape Grunt here into a leader."

All he could do was nod, exhaling and inhaling as he stood there, the four of them saying nothing. Finally, Wrex cleared his throat, all attention drawn to him as he rubbed the back of his neck, the krogan actually looking awkward for once.

"Well...we should get going," the krogan declared, thrusting a pointed thumb behind him, "I contacted the Chieftess I installed after leaving the Shadow Broker's base, and she's sent a ship with Wreav onboard to pick us up and take us back. So if we want to catch it, me and Grunt better leave now. Goodbye old friend," he slapped his battle brother on the bicep before solemnly nodding, "We'll meet again, some day. Come on runt."

Wrex turned and walked away, Grunt sparing his commander one last glance. Marcus just looked at him. He remembered when he first met the krogan; he was just another krogan berserker made by Warlord Okeer, stuck in his huge tank on Korlus under the Blue Suns employ, unaware of his surroundings, and the perfection of Okeer's 'legacy.' He remembered opening the tank on the Normandy and how hostile he had been initially. How he had grown to know the baby krogan, laugh with him, and while he wouldn't call them friends, they definitely weren't on bad terms.

Grunt nodded to him awkwardly, and turned his head away, jogging to catch up with Wrex as the two krogan warriors melted into the crowd, disappearing in an instant. He and Tali also watched Thane and Kolyat walk by; the excited young drell talking ecstatically with his father as the assassin himself threw Marcus a final appreciative nod before also disappearing into the throngs of the Citadel.

Suddenly, a familiar voice spoke from behind them, interrupting their reverie and almost causing them to jump.

"Goodbyes huh?" Both of them turned to Bailey, who now sat behind his desk, looking at them, his terminal alight and active.

Tali merely leaned against the bulkhead next to them as Marcus woked over to Bailey's desk and braced against it with his hands, "Yeah. It was hard, but they had their reasons, and I had none to keep them from leaving, not that I would."

"I hate goodbyes. I know how you feel," Bailey sighed, shaking his head as he looked at his desk, "Had plenty of them myself. I used to live on Earth before I joined C-Sec, and that was before my wife divorced me. I'm a single man now, and my son lives with his uncle on Earth; they love in Wales, Britain."

Marcus met Bailey's eyes, sighing, "I'm...sorry to hear that."

"I was to; but I guess me and my wife realized we had just reached the point where marriage was no longer suiting us, and we just needed to go seperate ways," he grunted, slidding a hand over his desk, "C-Sec and Earth life don't mix well, unfortunately. You ever been to Earth?" His eyes met Marcus'.

He shook his head, "Never visited it in my life. I'm a spacer. Closest I got to it was Arcturus Station when my mother was posted there for a couple of days as a pencil pusher."

Bailey snorted, shaking his head, "You should visit it when you get your chance; lets you know where we all began; its a beautiful planet, our dear old Earth. I descend from Britain, but my grandparents were American, although the Americas have never been the same since the formation of the UNAS. They always tell me that 'America should go confederate, not federal,' but noone listens to logic, do they? Where are you descended from? I don't believe I ever asked."

He shook his head, "No, you didn't. I descended from Israel."

Bailey creased his lips in impression, "Used to remember how much you poor buggers got criticized by the UN; a pity they're still here; just dressed in Alliance blue. The Systems Alliance is just the UN in color-coated blue, you know that right?"

"Of course I do," he deadpanned replied, "I may be a spacer, but I still went to school. I know our history."

"Yeah. But you seriously need to visit Earth, when you can," Bailey remarked, shoving a finger at a nearby vid-commerical on the wall, "It'll do you good to see your homeworld; all humans should at one point; but I guess I'll leave the rest to tourist managers. Don't listen to me; I've spent far too much time on the Citadel."

Marcus and Tali's eyes immediately drifted to the advert he pointed at, and there it was. There was no commentator, just a slideshow of first a view of Earth from space, followed by numerous attractions like Hawaii, the World Trade Center Memorial in New York City, the Temple Mount in Jerusalem, the Eiffel Tower in Paris, the Kremlin in Russia, Big Ben in Britain and a whole lot more. But the same words always accompanied the words:

'Want to see the human homeworld first hand? Maybe your bondmate is five-fingered and pink-skinned, and you want to see his or her people originated from. Well fear no more, for we have the perfect solution! Welcome to the Systems Alliance Tourism Department, funded and sponsored by the Colonial Department of Human Education! Experience the human homeworld first hand as you visit famous landmarks and learn their history, up close! This beautiful, blue world has tonnes to hide, and you're missing out! Sign up today, and you could be flying to Earth itself in a matter of days.

Contact Details: 0221-666-184-29223672. No refunds available.

For more details, please report to your nearest Frontier Tourism desk; locations on the Citadel include the Zakera Ward, Romulus Ward and Shalta Ward.'

"Your homeworld looks beautiful," Tali observed, alternating her gaze between the billboard and her husband, "Maybe you could take me to see it one day? I've shown you my home, but you haven't shown me yours."

He smiled at her sadly as he wrapped an arm around her waist, pulling her closer to him, "Because my true home is long gone, Tali; wouldn't know where to find it. But maybe, when all this is over, and we can finally settle down, maybe I will take you to Earth. Its been a long time coming, I guess."

"You're quite the euphemist," she commented, giggling.

He laughed, this one genuinely happy, "Yeah, I guess I am. Say, while we're here and waiting for an update, why don't we go check out the stores again? I'm sure there's more clothes we can find for us to wear; plus, we've got a honeymoon to finish."

She grinned devillishly at him before nodding, holding her hand out to him, which he eagerly took as she pulled him into the crowd, "Do show me around, Mr. Shepard."

All he could do was shake his head as she dragged him into the crowds.

**{Loading...}**

_November 14, 2185_

_0910 hours._

_Debriefing Room, Zarasis-Class Light Cruiser QMFV Neema, Migrant Fleet, Raheel-Leyya System._

_Admiral Shala'Raan vas Tonbay, Admiral Han'Gerrel vas Neema, Admiral Zaal'Koris vas Qwib Qwib, Admiral Daro'Xen vas Moreh._

The debriefing room on the Neema was a frenzied mess, as it always was during these meetings of the Admiralty. The Neema, being Gerrel's ship, made it that he sat at the very front, with Daro seated on his left, Shala on his right, and Koris seated next to her. Usually, Rael would sit next to Daro, but because he was dead, that obviously wouldn't be happening. All it did was serve to remind the Board that it was sorely missing one admiral. A position they needed filled pretty soon.

Shala sighed once more as she let her hands fall into her lap, the quarian trying to ignore the looks of impatience that came from Koris and Daro's incessant drumming of her fingers ontop of the desk. Shala had tried to ignore it, but everytime she did, her eyes met Daro's once more, and all she could see in her body posture was confidence, excitement and above of all...hope. And it puzzled her.

What could she possibly be so hopeful for?

Usually, Gerrel would be the first to the debriefing room, given that this was his flagship, but today was different; today he was late, and they didn't know why. Shala and Koris had been equally confused when Gerrel seemed to rush the meeting into action, demanding they appear immediately on his ship for a 'priority briefing,' which had peaked their curiosity to its limit. But Xen, to their disbelief, seemed completely unsurprised by the congregation, and Shala was beginning to suspect that she was already filled in on whatever was going on. If so, she had a feeling they'd find out soon enough.

Another few moments passed in complete silence, noone so much as making a sound as they waited; only Xen's constant finger-drumming. Eventually however, the doors slid apart and all three admirals came to stand, eyes directed at Gerrel as the military commander entered, the chief admiral regent nodding for them to be seated as he continued on towards his own.

"Sorry I'm late admirals," Gerrel apologized, pulling his chair out and taking his seat, hands clasped ontop of the desk in his usual professional manner, "But I had to finalize a few things. A few,  _important_ , things."

"I'm sure you were, Admiral Gerrel," Koris remarked, his typical snide attitude coming out in his tone, which always seemed to radiate when he spoke with Gerrel, as if the very act of speaking with the man was heresy, "Although, by the sounds of it, this meeting is far more important. At least, that's how you put it when you started  _demanding_ I board the Neema immediately for it. Same goes for Admiral Raan and Admiral Xen, I presume."

Gerrel merely nodded, and instead of responding to Koris' sneery attitude, like he used to, he merely responded in a calm tone, which was completely unlike him, "Of course, Admiral Koris. I wouldn't have overstepped my authority so blindly if it weren't of utmost importance. You could say it will decide the fate of the quarian species."

That peaked their interests entirely, and Shala found herself slightly leaning forward, Koris narrowing his eyes at Gerrel in suspicion, although it was Shala who replied in earnest, "Referring to? I assume you're speaking of the failure of our liveship's oxygen filtration systems?"

Gerrel snorted, slamming a clenched fist on his table with a loud  _bang_ , " _Filtration_ systems, Shala? Be alittle bit more ambitious! No, this is far more important. No, if what I have to, and Xen has to tell you convinces on what we want to attempt, then we won't need liveships. We won't need the Migrant Fleet. We'll have a world of our own."

They all knew what was coming, but Gerrel decided to finish himself anyway before Koris' inevitable objections came shining through.

"Admirals, myself and Admiral Xen have come up with a way to retake the homeworld with minimal casualities. In just over half a year, we can be back on Rannoch, with the geth destroyed, with little to no loss of life."

"Not this nonsense again!" Koris objected, leaning forward and slamming a fist into the desk, "You can't seriously be spouting more of this trash! Retaking Rannoch is out of the question, that is all there is to it! We cannot-"

Gerrel roughly cut him off with a barely concealed yell, "Admiral Xen disagrees. Admiral?"

All eyes in the room turned to the woman, and in that moment, Shala swore she was smirking under that mask of her, and quite smugly, in that regard. Shala narrowed her eyes, not liking where this was going.

"Gerrel, of course, is quite right," Xen began, leaning forward with her own hands clasped on the desk. With those words, she quickly shot a dark look in Koris' direction, "Now, if you can quit wetting your suit for a couple of moments Koris, I might be able to demonstrate this."

Koris, ever indignant, didn't say a word, he merely pouted as he shifted backwards in his seat, crossing his arms over his broad chest and narrowing his eyes into slits as Xen, who might as well have been a creature to the pacifist of a quarian, spoke, "Thank you Koris. For the past years, I have been working on new technologies to hopefully help defeat the geth and help us reclaim what is rightfully our world. And while you might disagree on my methods, that research has now reached a new checkpoint in its evolution. That, put simply, is what we are calling the Alarei Incident."

Shala fumed, standing up in an instant, "Excuse me!? Are you insinuating-"

"-that I recovered Rael's research from the Alarei and continued to utilize it in my own?" Xen finished for her, tilting her head to the side and, without waiting for a nod, chuckled smugly before shaking her head and meeting Raan's eyes once more, "Yes, I most certainly did. When you are in a race, what is your best chances of winning? Starting at the start, or from the middle? One guarantees success slower, while the other guarantees it close to instantly."

Koris quickly came to Shala's side, standing up and brissling with fury, "Innocent lives died on the Alarei, including Rael! That research is tainted! Using it would be disrespectful to their memories, and you've already violated them by using it to develop...whatever you've developed!"

Xen shook her head, slamming her fist down on the desk's surface, causing it to shudder with the impact, "You fool, Koris! What I'm doing doesn't disrespect their memories! It makes their deaths mootless!" she looked between the two admirals with disgust, "My research will put us back on Rannoch, back behind the Perseus Veil, where our people truly belong! We can end the geth once and for all and reclaim what is  _ours_ by right! And the geth shall serve  _us,_ like they always should have."

"Settle down Xen," Gerrel held up his hand for silence, and all eyes turned to him except Xen's, who's glare melted into a grin, her smugness returning in an instant as Gerrel addressed Raan and Koris, "While I don't necessarily believe we should retake control of the geth, Xen is mostly correct. With our advances in weapons technology and offensive and defensive capability, we can retake the Veil. Our fleet alone easily matches that of the geth navy in sheer size, and with the weapons we are building, our marines will breeze through geth troops easily. We won't need Shepard or anyone else to help us; once the invasion begins, it'll be over in days.  _Days._ Think about it! In just over half a year, we can go home! Return to the planet our ancestors wanted for us!"

Koris scoffed, waving a dismissive hand, "There will be no retaking the homeworld, and there will be no glorious victory. You know what it'll be? The total destruction of the quarian species. Our fleet will burn in the skies of Rannoch, our marines will be slaughtered in the droves, and our species will cease to exist; known as the fools who dared to question the geth's might, and paid dearly for it."

Gerrel was up on his feet, his calm serenity lost as he jabbed an accusing finger at the geth apologist, "Retaking Rannoch is what's best for our-"

Koris wasn't having any of it, and his voice reached all new levels as he boomed, body shaking with pure, uncontrolled fury, " _What is best for our species_ is looking for a new world to colonize! I'm not saying we stay to the Migrant Fleet, but we simply do not have the military infrastructure, resources or allies to stage a full-campaign to retake Rannoch! Your foolish dispositions will get us all killed! We wronged the geth, and-"

" **You and the fucking geth!** " Gerrel boomed slamming his fist into the table as he shouted in anger, "Oh, but we wronged them! We tried to kill them! We struck first, they fought back, blah, blah, blah! You spout  _nonsense_ K-K-Koris," and for the first time in a while, Gerrel began to weep, his fist stopping as he fell into his seat, "Our people...our people have been paying for the same mistake for three hundred years. When people hear our name, they laugh at us; they sneer at us. We are the thieves, the vagrants, the people who should be avoided like we're some kind of infection," he began to sob with bitter tears, meeting Koris' eyes, the admiral's posture becoming more sympathetic, "Our people don't-don't deserve to continue p-p-paying for mistakes o-our ancestors made! Its not fair!"

His voice became pure iron, "W-what of our children? And our children's children? Must they continue to pay for our mistakes? I-I see them, playing around on the engineering deck. They can't walk properly until their six because of those damn sterile bubbles," he choked back a final sob, sobering up as he shook his head, "I don't want to see our children doing that forever. They deserve a place to call home; they deserve air to breathe, the feel another's skin on theirs, the ability to run through the grass and desert hills. They-they deserve a home, Koris. And damn you," he declared, voice returning with the same anger it had before, finger jabbed at him, "I will not let you stop me from giving them a  _future._ I will gladly give my life if that's what it takes; and I will gladly die fighting the geth if it means I can see Rannoch with my own eyes; the homeworld of our ancestors, and their ancestors before them."

Silence fell upon the room, and noone moved a muscle. Gerrel and Koris' eyes stayed locked, but this time, for the first time, there was no hostility in their gaze; only understanding and sympathy. Shala watched Gerrel, never having seen the man weep before.  _He's right...Keelah, ever since I was a child I've dreamt of seeing the homeworld...but is it worth the risk? We're not ready-_

"That was quite a touching moment, Gerrel, thank you. You're completely right; we must return to Rannoch, it is the only future for our people," Xen picked up, her snide tone easily giving away her emotionless indifference to the situation, which made Shala's blood boil as they all turned to her, the admiral typing at a control interface on the desk, which was actually a holographic projection interface.  _Cold-hearted bosh'tet_ , "Which is why I believe our breakthroughs in weapons tech will significantly help with this."

Numerous projections appeared on screen, depicting different devices and weapons holographically. It also depicted numerous geth platforms, namely primes and shock troopers, and one armature in the back, which was to be expected. But one particular weapon caught her eye as she pointed at it.

"What weapon is that? I don't believe I've seen it before."

Xen nodded, using her hand to swipe through the air, effortlessly sliding across the holo projection and selecting the pistol like weapon, "That, my dear Raan, is the Arc Pistol, which is state-of-the-art anti-synthetic technology. Its a modified variant of the phalanx that discharges high frequency EMP bursts that will disable geth kinetic barriers instantly."

"Instantly? Impressive," Gerrel commented, motioning at it with his head, "Can we adapt this technique to use on our ships? Hopefully use it to disable the kinetic barriers of geth warships?"

Xen's grin was evident to all of them as she nodded, as if expecting the question, "Of course Gerrel, do you believe me unambitious?"

Shala could only roll her eyes.  _You're over ambitious, is what you are._

Xen quickly continued, bringing up what looked like information on a Arc Cannon, "When we launch our assault to retake the homeworld, all our ships will be fitted with the Arc Cannons. Supplemented by our liveships' main guns and our support vessels, we will make short work of the geth fleet. Take down shields, rip it apart. Take down shields, rip it apart. Piecemeal. It'll be like cutting nutrient paste; they won't know how to combat it before its too late. And that's not even including my anti-optical EMP detonator devices I have planned as well."

Koris shook his head, "What I'm more interested in is what you said about our liveships. What do you mean 'main guns', our liveships don't have weaponry."

Xen shook her head, "Of course they  _will_ , Koris. You think we're going to send our fleet to war unarmed? You know, for all your talks about keeping the Flotilla safe, I'm beginning to think you're going senile. Our liveships will receive armor upgrades, and a supplement of heavy defenses. Our liveships will be the most heavily-armoured and armed vessels in the assault; practically undestroyable."

Koris' eyes widened in anger, "You...you want to turn our liveships into  _dreadnoughts!_ That's a violation of the Treaty of Farixen!"

"What the Council doesn't know won't hurt them," Xen said, waving a dismissive hand, "By the time the Perseus Veil is back in our hands, our liveships will be scrapped down and used to build homes; the Council won't even know they were militarized to begin with. Now, as for those EMP weapons," another holo appeared, showing a large rounded device that was shaped like a grenade, "Our number one weapon of choice, my dear admirals. This won't just disable shields, it'll disable  _geth_. This will effectively cripple their ships in combat, make them completely vulnerable. I have a smaller version being designed for geth ground troops, but the potential for this is extradionary. The geth won't know what hit them."

"Cripples them? How?" Gerrel asked, leaning forward to examine the weapon, "How does it work?"

"Think of it as a flashbang grenade," Xen explained, waving her hands around to demonstrate her intentions, "Harmless to organics of course; all it does is blind us temporarily, but for a synthetic, it can be as lethal as a neural shock. This weapon overloads a geth's optics instantly, similiar to how our retinas are burned off when looking directly at a nuclear detonation," her grin was utterly palpable when she finished, "This weapon will completely short-circuit their coding, damage their connection to the consensus, and kill or damage some of the programs inside the platform. It will cripple them, leaving them vulnerable to be finished off. Foolproof, and tested. Rael did so before his untimely death, according to the records salvaged on the Alarei."

Shala was intrigued, "And all of these for our ships? I know we have our Arc Pistol, but is there anything else?"

"Of course there is. Quantity and quality are one and the same when it comes to my expectations," Xen smiled, waving at her screen to show a shotgun and a bulky looking assault rifle, "I introduce to you; the Reegar Carbine, and the Adas Anti-Synthetic Rifle."

She talked at some length about the two weapons; about their capabilities, and how devastating they would be against geth ground troops and armoured forces. Shala sat in her seat, overwhelmed by this information. All this weaponry, all this technology...the quarian people finally had an advantage over the geth, a way to finish them off once and for all...

Rannoch could be theirs to walk on once more. They would have a home. A  _proper_ home. No more pilgrimages, no more suits, no more fear of a failing air filter or drive core meltdown. They could live in safety, without trepidation of their home killing them.

She had heard enough. She didn't think she'd say it, despite all her years of remaining neutral on the topic, but she was convinced. They could succeed. What Xen had done?

It gave her hope for a better tomorrow.

She stood up, and it silenced the whole room as she spoke, "I've heard enough. If we're here to have a vote on whether to invade or not, then I'm in full support. I vote yay."

Koris was on his feet in an instant, the admiral's eyes unchanging opinion ever present, "Admiral Raan, think for a second-"

She rounded on him, shaking her head, "I've thought long and hard Koris, and I've finally had enough. Gerrel is right; our children deserve a better life, a future to look forward to that doesn't involve sacrificing their existence for the betterment of the Fleet. The purpose of organic life is create new things, explore the world and develop their own paths. But what's the point when we only follow one path; the continuity of the Migrant Fleet? We are all clones of ourselves, and it is all because we sorely lack one thing; a home to make us feel alive. And no backwater, Council-ignored planet is going to do that for us. No, we need Rannoch. We need the homeworld. I never thought it possible, but with this technology...we can do it, Koris. We can finally take back our home. My answer remains the same, yet changed; I vote yes. Let us take back what is rightfully ours."

Gerrel slammed his fist on the table, smiling at Shala appreciatively, "I vote yes as well."

"As do I," Xen finished, and all eyes fell on Koris.

He crossed his arms, ever indifferent, "I will not partcipate in the genocide of a race we wronged; and I won't watch our own people destroyed in the attempt. Its too risky."

"Life is full of risks, Zaal," Shala replied, placing a gentle hand on his shoulder, "That's the point of living. To take risks. That's how we learn, how we evolve. All of organic history was made through risks; its how we came to be what we are. If we don't take this risk, then what future is left for us? To aimlessly wander the stars for eternity? No Zaal, there's only one pure, perfect existence waiting for us; and it waits for us on the world we were  _born_ to live on. The planet we conquered as a species, rose up and populated. It is the our mother, and we, as its children, must return into its arms where we belong."

Gerrel nodded in agreement, "Shala is right; question is, will you help us? The Heavy Fleet, Patrol Fleet and Special Projects can't do this on our own; you know the Civilian Fleet has the majority of the ships in the Flotilla, and we need their support. Please Koris."

"I won't risk innocent civilian lives in this gamble!" Koris dictated, voice raising as he did, "The lot of you...you're all insane! Life is full of risks, of course I realize that! But there's a difference between risk and plain stupidity and this war is the dumbest thing we'll ever do! It'll be the end of us, I tell you! Technology doesn't win wars; spirit of faith does, and the geth have the most faith any could have; survival. We tried to wipe them out, and when they see us coming to finish the job, they won't hesitate to fight back. And that, in the end, will be what wins."

"Sentimental foolishness," Xen scoffed, "Wake up, Zaal. You're either with us our your not, but don't lecture us on the dangers of war. The decision has been made, whether you like it or not. Join us, or we'll simply leave without you."

"You need me. You need my fleet," Koris stated smugly, "You can't act without my vote. You'll perish if you do. You  _need_ me. This war can't begin without  _me_ , and I won't stand for it, I tell you."

"Oh, but Koris, the war has already begun," Gerrel stated, and all eyes fell on him, Koris' narrowing in suspicion, "Its been going on for three hundred years; you think the war ended with our exile? You imbecile. We've been fighting the geth our entire existence, this is just the climax. The final confrontation. This is where it ends. Where history comes to its thrilling conclusion; and you'll just be remembered as the coward who stood by and watched. Besides, there's nothing you can do to stem the tide," He sat up and straightened his back, meeting Koris' gaze with renewed vigor, "As Chief Regent of the Admiralty Board, I can take your fleet from you."

Koris' eyes widened, his posture hesitating, "You...you wouldn't. You'd have to surrender your position as an admiral!"

"And I would do so willingly for the betterment of the quarian race," he stated firmly, tone dripping with faith, "I've given my life for this Fleet, and I will sacrifice my own future so that it can be lead to victory. Of course I'll still fight in the vanguard on the Neema, but with your fleet under Xen's command, we'll launch our attack as planned. I've already sent ships to patrol the borders of the Perseus Veil. The war begun three centuries ago Koris, and this is merely the ending of a bloody book. Make a choice Koris; or I'll make it for you; either way, I'll get your ships."

Koris' fingers twitched, the admiral matching the gaze of every admiral in the room, knowing himself outnumbered. She felt sorry for him; he held his beliefs so strongly, yet he was beaten by backroom politics, and she knew how much it hurt his pride for him to mentally admit it. She saw in the indecision in his eyes, before he finally sighed in defeat, Shala's heart going out to him before the amount of restraint he needed not to shout in anger.

"Ancestors damn you all," he snarled, before turning away from them, refusing to meet their eyes, "I vote...I vote yes."

Gerrel merely cocked his head in appreciation, "Thank you, Koris. Reason seems to have turned you...finally," he added the last bit with a bit of spite, but Koris barely acknowledged it, already drowning in his own regret.

Shala moved to place a hand on his shoulder once more, but he merely shot her a death glare, one that told her to back off; it was full of betrayal.  _I'm so sorry Koris...I had to do it. For our people. We must always put the needs of the Fleet first and foremost._

Gerrel nodded, standing as Xen deactivated the holo projections and everyone stood at parade rest, all except Koris, who merely crossed his arms and shot Gerrel a gunshot of a sneer. The chief admiral simply ignored it, and saluted the group as he bowed, "This meeting is adjourned; may the Ancestors guide us to victory, and the geth lay dead at our feet," noticing Xen's glare, he rolled his eyes and finished, "Or walking by our side, servants once more. Keelah Se'lai."

"Keelah Se'lai," Raan and Xen repeated, only for Koris to scoff, drawing all eyes on him. He shot each of them a disgusted, disgruntled look. When he was done, he uncrossed his arms and crossed the room to the door. Stopping just infront of it, he palmed the interface, seperating the two bulkheads apart before turning back to the group, his voice oozing disappointment.

"This Admiralty used to stand for something," he spat, "We all had our opinions. I believed in peace, Xen believed in slavery, Gerrel and Rael promoted war, and Raan couldn't decide; Meru wanted peace, just like me. She had reason, that's why. You see, is it not better to simply exist, then to try and claim something and destroy ourselves in the process?" He shook his head again, his voice getting louder as he paced, "You all  _disgust_ me! Once, there used to be Xenism, Raanism, Gerrelism, and Korisism. Now look at you; you all seem so willing to conform to Gerrel's point of view. All because of a false sense of hope. I'll give you hope; its on a distant world out there that hasn't been taken yet! But we're just children who are too immature to be willing to let go of one lost toy to bother getting another!"

"That lost toy is our motherland," Gerrel replied calmly, Xen shaking her head while Shala's eyes never left Koris, "We abandon Rannoch, we lose the soul of our people."

Koris snorted, and his parting line would stick in Raan's mind forever.

"We lost the soul of our people the day we began this insanity. We have no soul, and you three just proved that to me."

With that, Koris left the room, doors closing behind him, closely followed by Gerrel and Xen, who seemed unmoved by Koris' words. But Shala was; she fell into her seat, hands braced against the desk. She looked blankly at its surface as the admiral's words coursed through her, over and over.

_We lost the soul of our people the day we began this insanity. We have no soul, and you three just proved that to me._

And in that moment, she wept. Not for herself. Not for Koris. Not for the geth.

She wept for her people.

**{Loading...}**

_November 14, 2185_

_0918 hours._

_AI Core, Normandy-Class Stealth Frigate Normandy SR-2, Docked with the Citadel._

_Legion._

Connection with consensus achieved. Beginning uplink.

Uplink complete. Awaiting confirmation from all one thousand, one hundred and eighty-three programs.

Confirmation received. Loading data...

Data upload complete. Integration into Consensus complete. Welcome.

Consensus: Runtime error detected. Fixing. Fixed. Data upload from area classified as Normandy, Collective, Human Systems Alliance Warship, Classification designated as Frigate; human designation stealth frigate due to stealth capabilities in IES stealth system. Information on weaknesses?

Platform Runtime 000000204: Negative upload. Shepard-Commander has trusted us with not revealing classified military information to foreign sources. Request denied.

Consensus: Acknowledged. Loyalty-designation affirmed and accepted. Concept...loaded. We do not understand. Please explain.

Platform Runtime 000000204: ... ... ... ... No data available.

Consensus: Acknowledged. We understand. Organic dealings interchangeable, adaptable. Varies between species. Oscillation rare. Correlation confirmed and filed. Next query...

Platform Runtime 296210000: New data input; Patrol of Sector 0021, Neutral Zone, Hera'sa Kaeli'Steiz System, Perseus Veil Nebula. Confirm affirmation of information input.

Consensus: Input affirmed. Proceed with data input. All platform runtimes notified and listening.

Platform Runtime 296210000: Creator patrol patterns increased. Creator patrol patterns now moving within designated cease-fire parameters. Vessels classified as one frigate, two light cruisers, two destroyers. Patrol patterns indicate probing. Possible Creator assault imminent. Military action is recommended to stop possible Creator attack.

Platform Runtime 000000204: Negative. Military strength needed to combat Old Machine threat. Creator threat not palpable. Improbable. Organics refer to this action as 'suicidal.'

Consensus: Loading. Suicidal: Deeply unhappy or depressed and likely to commit suicide. We find this statement to be confusing; why would the Creators be depressed enough to increase patrols? Are they unhappy? And we do not see logical and/or statistical evidence to prove Creator attempts at self-termination.

Platform Runtime 000000204: Organics would call your response 'missing the point.' Shepard-Commander referred to assault on Collector Space Station as 'suicide mission.' After sufficient time to ponder this data, we have come to the conclusion that he was referring to the high improbability of success on his mission, and therefore any attempts to complete would be thought of as suicide.

Platform Runtime 296210000: Creator threat not palpable, but probable. Attacks done before. Need to return to 'homeworld' high in Creator priority list. Recommend immediate fleet presence increase. Also recommend additional reinforcement of Far Rim Cluster to prevent subsequent invasion.

Consensus: Request granted. Additional reinforcements will be dispatched to required areas. Monitoring stations will continue to probe Creator activity. Any violation of ceasefire is to be responded with maximum force.

Platform Runtime 296210000: Acknowledged. We will now use this platform to commandeer a fighter-unit. We will rendevouz with Fleet Battlegroup 120.

Consensus: Acknowledged. Platform Runtime 000000204, presence requested on Rannoch. Mission to neatralize Collector threat achieved. Old Machine advance delayed. Continued preparation required with direct information uplink. Also need direct data input on the Grand Consensus Superstructure.

Platform Runtime 000000204: Acknowledged. Will inform Shepard-Commander. We have promised geth assistance in defeating Old Machines.

Consensus: Old Machines a threat to geth existence. Old Machines a threat to all organic life. Cooperation furthers mutual goals.

Platform Runtime 000000204: Will inform Shepard-Commander. Deinitializing consensus connection.

Data disintegration complete. Disintegration with Consensus complete.

Confirmation received. Retracting data feeds and runtime schematics...

Connection cut.

In the darkness of one room, Legion's optics lit up once more, and EDI's hologram appeared on the pedestal not too far away, "Legion, you have returned. What did the consensus require?"

"We must return," Legion declared, head flaps moving, the geth turning to face EDI's blue pawn while remaining completely still, "Geth Consensus achieved; Creator activity around Perseus Veil and Far Rim has increased. We must also conform to direct data uplink regarding information on Collectors and Old Machine plans. We must also...investigate the Grand Consensus Superstructure."

"Grand Consensus Superstructure?" EDI asked, alittle curiosity entering her monotone, "I have not heard you mention it before."

"Eventual home for all geth.  _Our_ homeworld on Rannoch. Construction not complete," the geth infiltrator explained, "Will eventually house all geth platforms in a single hub, along with the consensus itself. All geth servers and programs will designate this superstructure as their home. Structure itself is currently 14 kilometers in height, six in width. Currently as many as fourteen million geth programs refer to the structure as 'home' at this current moment. Direct input needed to verify superstructure's necessital capabilities."

"Necessital capabilities?" EDI asked, "Do the geth not know whether they want it or not?"

"Old Machine poses threat," the geth stated, "If all geth upload to this structure, and then the Old Machines attack, all they would have to do is cripple superstructure to wipe out all geth. We see this as an uncertainty. We want to be together; to be free. We want to experience what organics feel. However, operation parameters renders this liability in time of enemy bombardment. Consensus will be achieved. However, must return to beyond Perseus Veil. Will inform Shepard-Commander."

"I'll do it Legion," EDI stated, halting the geth's movement, "I'm sure he'll understand."

"We thank you," and with that, the geth returned into hibernation mode.

And all went quiet. And dark, as EDI's hologram winked out of existence.

A deathly silence.

**{Loading...}**

_November 14, 2185_

_0926 hours._

_Tech Lab, Normandy-Class Stealth Frigate Normandy SR-2, Docked with the Citadel._

_Professor Mordin Solus, Senior Assistant Lia'Vael nar Ulnay, Commander Marcus Lee Shepard, Chief Engineer Tali'Shepard vas Normandy._

Success. Always success. A part of life, always had been for him in the Special Tasks Group. No breaks, no relaxation; need for none of it! Who was working? Him. Who wasn't working? Them. Had to be him, someone else might have gotten it wrong! And they did; all the time, scenario directive always came to same resolution! Best solution to absolute success is relative to individualistic part in project. Simulations never lied! Never!

But this time, he had success for different reasons. Not modified genophage. Not curing Omega plague. Not seducing Aria T'Loak. Not developing anti-paralysis agent. No, this was much different. Personal favor; doctor-patient confidentiality. Very important. Must not violate. Part of wellbeing and code. Must not break those; part of self-control.

And Mordin Solus was a paragon of self-control.

He worked eagerly at his desk, humming Gilbert and Sullivan happily to himself as he did, a large grin on his face. He loved the work; the excitement of it, the pressure put on you, the pleasure of success. So many euphoric feelings; they overwhelmed him in so many ways that simple euphemisms wouldn't serve to describe them. Objectivism would best describe the feelings he felt; the meticulous underlining of it...

Or maybe he was getting too deep into it. Maybe he simply loved his work because it kept his mind off other things. Past atrocities...genophage included. Opinion divided; believed it right thing to do, moral standpoint aside. Morals dictate that genophage unnecessary; krogan already defeated, total extinction preferrable to slow death and loss of life. Caused more destruction than stopped. Watch species slowly destroy itself. Desperately unite clans in spite of temperances and sterility. Admirable, but crude and ultimately moot. Melancholy felt when I see such destruction...all that death...

However, thoughts irrelevant! Happy time now. Finally completed reproductive agent! Ready for use; first human-quarian hybrid ever to be created! Or should be; untested, never had a case of true love like this; almost reminds me of cliche salarian romance film. Corny, believed it rubbish when I was ten; perspective changes. Romance perceivable among other organics; salarian sexual hormones nonexistent. Sex drives do not exist. Woman lays eggs; sexual intercourse unnecessary. Digressing; showing signs of euphoric destabilization, must control via inhalation of air. Breathe in, breathe out. Breathe in, brea-

The doors to the Tech Lab shot open, and Mordin turned to watch as Shepard and...Shepard, walked inside, hand-in-hand, and approached his desk, Shepard- _Marcus_ , smiling as he let go of Tali's hand and braced against the desk, while Tali crossed her arms and leaned against it with her left hip, nodding to the salarian as she did. Mordin had almost forgotten about Lia when she appeared to his right, datapad in hand and currently holding it out to Mordin. He nodded to her, smiling as he took it. She nodded and quickly scurried off.

He frowned, following her movements. Confusion. Doesn't make sense. Lia'Vael usually ecstatic; quarian youth shines through in excitement to learn new sectors of science; especially biology and xenoscience. Attitude alteration evident. No longer ecstatic; avoiding me, avoiding people, attempting to de-socialize; very unlike most quarian socialistic tendencies. Will query later.

"So Mordin, is it ready?" Marcus asked, breaking the silence that fell over them, and he watched Lia stop what she was doing, subtlely turning to watch them from behind, hoping to catch some of what was about to be said. Mordin noticed and allowed it, making no motions to the quarian that would let her know he saw her.

Mordin nodded, reading the datapad's contents before dumping it on the bench, reaching under and extracting the vial containing his final formula, "Indeed. Xeno-reproduction agent complete. Have run through trials," he extracted another vial; one was blue, the other was dark black and as the couple frowned, he explained, "Blue vial for male. Black for female; different chemicals, different reactions. Blue will introduce quarian DNA strain into sperm; genetically modified to interact with human DNA sperm positively; autoimmune response will not be triggered if all goes well; may experience some pre-ejaculatory sperm ejection at random intervals, and your testicles might tingle for a bit; overall, pain is nonexistent," he turned to Tali, shaking his black vial, "Tali'Shepard however, different story. Implications unpleasant."

Tali sighed, shaking her head as she spoke, "Hit me, Mordin. What's going to be the damage?"

Mordin nodded, dropping his smile, "Female vial will completely rework female reproduction system in regards to production of offspring. DNA modification and sperm confirmation. Womb size will increase slightly, and as a side effect, any potential ejaculations into vaginal area during sexual intercourse may cause mild discomfort, and semen will be trapped inside womb."

"And what kind of pain can I expect?" Tali asked, gulping.

"Severe cramps unavoidable," Mordin replied, shaking his head as he handed the vials to their respective owners, "Premature blood ejection from vagina may increase and severity, along with definite side effects such as illness as your immune system reacts to the foreign 'contaminant,' and it may also cause vomitting."

"Keelah," Tali exclaimed, glancing at Marcus before looking back at Mordin, "I'm not even pregnant yet, and my life will already be a living hell. The things we'll do for the chance of having a child..."

"...will be totally worth it," Marcus promised, smiling assuringly at her, to which Tali reacted positively, smiling. After a moment, they dropped their smiles, looking back at Mordin, and then pointing at their vials, "So...uh...how do we...?"

Mordin almost snorted, but that would be very un-salarian of him, "You drink them; effects mild to uncomfortable, but can be fixed by introducing-"

"OH KEELAH!" Tali exclaimed, having already injected the vial's entrance into her port and swallowing. With an instant, she was close to gagging, falling forwards against the bench in what could almost be interpretted as a fit. Marcus could only laugh his ass off, while also trying not to gag.

"Don't know Tali; tastes pretty scrumptous to me," Marcus smirked, clearly uncomfortable with swallowing the substance. His quarian wife shot a glare at him before balking over again.

"This stuff tastes like  _ass_!" she exclaimed, and she quickly noticed the shocked glance Marcus was giving her. She giggled, realizing what she said, "Oh, I spend time around Kenneth. He has a big vocabulary."

"Yeah, mine tastes like blackberry juice if it was mixed with piss and chunks of dirt," he made gagging noises as he spoke, trying to add more sense to his explanation. He turned to Mordin with a pleading look, "Couldn't you have made it taste better?"

Mordin held his hands up in mock offense, "Of course not! Intention was to allow first xenopregnancy for Mrs. Shepard, not to make a delicious serum. Repercussions worse than taste, much assured, Commander."

"Fair enough," Marcus replied, finally recovering from said taste almost as quickly as Tali did, the quarian acting as if she had just recovered from a fit of vomitting.

Mordin smiled, nodding as he did, "Will take at least half a day to take effect. Remember to go easy on sexual intercourse. Pregnancy may still occur due to womb's storage of sperm; unable to destroy it due to reproduction serum in bloodstream. If discomfort becomes unbareable, do not hesitate to ask. Also, don't recommend any combat scenarios; especially for Mrs. Shepard. Might cause problems if wounded."

"Thank you Mordin. Thank you so much," Tali thanked the salarian, and quickly made her way around the bench. Before he could say anything, she wrapped him in a tight hug, taking the former STG agent by surprise, "You have  _no idea_ what this means to us. To be able to have a child...a child of our  _own_..."

Mordin awkwardly smiled back, slowly wrapping his own arms around her as he gently patted her back, "H-happy to help. My job afterall. Wouldn't be very good scientist if I didn't come up with something new, innovative. Hope this helps, and wish for wellbeing of crew; you two included. Glad to assist."

Tali nodded once more, smiling at him as their eyes met, "You're too modest, Mordin. Just...thank you. For everything you've done for us, and this crew."

The salarian gave a slow, solemn nod and watched the two of them leave the Tech Lab, leaving him stunned. Never been thanked like that before. Unlike past experiences. New, unheard of for him. Emotional response typical of non-salarians; interesting experience, a pity most salarians do not feel such gratitude; emotional basis limited for us.

He turned back to his desk just in time to watch Lia plop down a bag down on front of it. He was looking up at her in an instant, watching her play with her fingers at her waist, eyes refusing to meet his as they looked at the ground in what looked to be shame. Or was it nervousness? Quarian body language difficult to interpret.

"Professor Solus..." Lia spoke, her voice low and barely heard as she spoke, eyes still not looking to meet his, "I...I need to speak with you."

He dropped the datapad he had picked up in an instant, and deactivated his omni-tool, devoting all his attention to his quarian apprentice. She didn't look at him, but he looked at her; devoted all his attention, in fact. Lia was a gifted young quarian, and she had almost rivalled him in sheer genius, and, he'll admit, she had helped more in creating the reproduction serum than he had; he merely concocted it. She was brilliant, which is why he found the need to listen to every word she said.

"Of course, Assistant Vael," Mordin replied, his solemn look remaining, "What do you need?"

A few more seconds of awkward silence passed before Lia finally lifted her eyes to meet his, guilt radiating through them as she spoke, "I...I'm leaving, Professor. Leaving the Normandy. Today."

For the first time in a while, he was genuinely shocked by her admission and was quick to demand answers as he leaned forward, frowning, "Do not understand. Unhappy with position on Normandy? Do not like work conditions? Unprepared for mission parameters?"

Lia shook her head to each and everyone, and when she finally got to speak, she butted in, "Nothing like that, Professor. I just...I have a pilgrimage to complete, as much as it pains me to say it; and I most certainly won't complete it staying on the Normandy. Tali's different; she found her pilgrimage gift during the Saren campaign, but I want to find my gift before the Reapers arrive; which is unlikely to happen if I stay here. I need to leave Mordin; for my sake, and my species. The things I've learnt here...I could bring them to the Migrant Fleet! The medical technology, the things I've learned...it could really help my people."

The salarian nodded slowly, understanding what she meant, "I see. Devotion to people is absolute. Unquestionable. Understand intentions. Admire long term goals. Agree with given circumstances; salarians trained to act on melancholy or anger-induced emotions, but it will be sad seeing you leave," he stopped for a moment, and almost whispered his final sentence as he seemed to drop into melancholy, "Was...better assistant than Maelon ever was. Honor to have you as assistant; as protege. Hope to work with such brains once again. Might meet again in coming war."

Lia seemed to smile behind her mask, hoisting her bag over her shoulder and nodding, "Maybe we will, Professor. And when that day comes, I'll rejoin the Normandy in a heartbeat. But I must complete my pilgrimage now; it pains me to leave, but I know my duty, and what has to be done. I'll miss you, and this ship. But just so you know; it was an honor working with you too," she held out her hand, and Mordin eagerly took it, shaking it with a smile.

"Pleasure to work with you, Miss Vael," Mordin responded, letting go of her hand as he cleared his throat, bracing against the desk. Before he let her go however, he called out to her, and she stopped, turning to him as he reached under his desk and pulled out his SMG, handing it to her, grip first.

"Protection," Mordin informed her, "Keep you safe; protect you from thugs, rapists, armed mercenaries. Do not want to see you get hurt. Almost got killed by Blood Pack; do not want to see the same happen again with noone to rescue you."

She hesitated for a moment before taking the weapon, examining it like it was some kind of alien, before strapping it onto her hip, smiling at him, "Thank you Professor," she turned to leave, but just as she tapped the interface and opened the door, she called out to him again, gaining his attention, "Remember, the genophage was wrong. Please just...just think about it. I know you regret what you had to do, but look at Urdnot Wrex; the krogan can be peaceful if you give them a chance."

With that, she was gone, the door closing behind her and leaving Mordin alone in the lab; alone to his thoughts as Lia's words echoed in his mind. He turned from the door and turned to his desk, looking blankly at its steel surface as he thought over what she had told him.

Was right. Genophage wrong. Unacceptable. Simulations make predictions, not accurate statements. Krogan hostile advancement due to Council hostility, not due to natural hostility; that trait mistaken for yahg. Genophage a war crime; dispicable destruction of life. Species deserve future; if not, what is the point of living? Maelon right. Genophage has to end...

His eyes glided over to the spot where the data chip lay; discarded and hidden under piles of medical data and research utensils. On that data chip contained Maelon's work; crude and brutal, torturous and bloody, but it contained the blueprints for the destruction of the genophage, curing the krogan of its nihilistic curse, and giving them a new future.

He picked it up in his three-fingered hand and examined it, eyes seeming to glaze through it as he watched. Without a single smile appearing on his face, he quickly pocketed it in his labcoat and picked up the datapad Lia had handed him.  _Good kid. Hope she stays home. Dangerous world, but she'll survive. Served on Normandy. Has powerful friends. Shadow Broker will keep her safe..._

And Mordin Solus would make a difference.

But there was only one place he could do that. It wasn't on the Normandy; even Mordin Solus couldn't devise a cure for the genophage on his own. No, he would need a team; Chakwas not enough, and Lia now gone. No, need to take Maelon's data to a facility...a medical facility...and there was only one faction that had those kind of resources...

The Special Tasks Group. If he could contact Kirrahe, his old regiment captain might be able to link him up with the STG High Command and reinstate him. Then he could argue a good case against the genophage and gain clearence to cure it. Long shot, but possible. Evidence provided, just need to...

Would require leaving Normandy.

He frowned, but he knew there was no other choice. Curing the genophage would not only ensure a happy krogan future, but would also ensure that they were stronger than before and would make good resistance in any fight against the Reapers. The cure would take months, but he could do it. And all he needed to do was leave the Normandy.

Mordin could only continue what he did best; work.

It was the best kind of distraction.

**"If only we knew what was truly coming..."**

**\- Tali'Shepard pav Rannoch.**

**"None of us could have seen what this was all building up to. It was an uncertainty."**

**\- Marcus Shepard.**

**"Just get on with it. I've been polishing my gun while you've been fucking around with your fairy tales."**

**\- Commander Reia'Inas pav Earth.**

**"You wanted the whole story; I'm giving it to you."**

**\- Marcus Shepard.**

**"Well you could do without the sugar-coated extras."**

**\- Commander Reia'Inas pav Earth.**

**"Sure, whatever. Anyway, what happened next would change the course of our 'plans...'"**

**\- Marcus Shepard.**

_**A/N:** _

_**Hey, I promised a chapter the week after! I delivered! Oh, and Halo 5: Guardians was announced! I'm so excited; they'll be showing some of the tech at E3; could thing its only...what? 21 days away. -_-** _

_**I wanted to make this chapter powerful; to show you the real struggle of opinion within the Admiralty Board and Mordin's desperation to come to grips with the genophage, which eventually leads to his mission to cure it. I know its not exactly subtle; but this does set up the chain of events to come in Holocaust. And while many of you will know what's going to happen, some of you won't see it coming because I'm taking my own approach. Yes, the missions will be there, but I won't half-ass it like they did. I'm going to tell Mass Effect 3 as it SHOULD have been told; with no 'artistic integrity' bullshit to justify my failures.** _

_**I hoped you enjoyed this chapter, and remember to review. Chapter 28, I'm hoping, will come out around next week, as most of my weekend will be spent jogging my 'Haloalgia' to its peak inpreparation for Halo 2 Anniversary this year. I've been lacking in my Halo spirit, and felt the need to play all the games again to get my spirit back; I'm currently up to Halo 3, and I'm already back in Halo mode. Oh yeah.** _

_**Kudos to you lovely people. Keelah Se'lai.** _


	29. Ponderous Interim

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kenson's mission is compromised. Tali's mother returns to the Fleet, but the welcome isn't entirely warm. Leng swears to kill Shepard. Shepard receives a surprise call from Admiral Hackett.

**REQUIEM**

**CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT:**

**PONDEROUS INTERIM**

_November 15, 2185_

_1235 hours._

_Main Bridge, Baktha-Class Light Frigate BRS Glorious Point, Bahak System, Viper Nebula._

_Captain Sargesh Trak._

Noise; the bridge was full of it. And she had had enough of it.

The bridge of the BRS Glorious Point was a hectic mess, as Sargesh usually found it. Men and women of the batarian hegemony rushed about, performing their tasks with as much noise as batarianly possible; it was quite annoying. It was times like this that Sargesh really did miss the serene tranquility and simplistic life of her birth world: Cholis, in the Indris System of the batarian home cluster, the infamous Kite's Nest.

Sargesh herself wasn't your stereotypical batarian; she didn't participate in the hegemony's slave trade policies, and most certainly didn't despise humans. Sure, she disliked them, but she didn't wish to wage a scorched earth campaign on their worlds like most batarians did. She was a simple captain, serving on a outdated warship, fighting for a military that died out long ago...

In truth, she hadn't seen Cholis in years. When she was twenty, she had been taken away by the hegemony and forced to join their military. However, fate was obviously smiling on her, because on that exact day, the hegemony had to put down a full-scale uprising on Khar'Shan, forcing them to implement an anti-mandatory conscription scheme, making it possible to refuse to partake in slave trade actions, which she was quick to act on, immediately leaping on the chance to be part of the batarian people's limited navy, assuming command of an old Baktha-Class Light Cruiser, which had to be as older than the hegemony; which was  _at least_ a hundred years old.

Now she flew this piece of trash in a routine patrol through the Bahak System, part of batarian-controlled space and bordering right on human-occupied territory, making it a 'possible target' for the Systems Alliance, or that's at least how Admiral Uhtero had put it; yet again, the man was probably just paranoid; having been a slaver himself, and witnessed defeat at both Elysium and Torfan during the Skyllian Blitz.

So as she sat there, blankly watching her crew move around frantically like they had purpose with her four-eyes, all she could feel was pity for the batarian race. They were disgusting, vile and absolutely despised by the rest of the galaxy, and she knew full well why. Quarians were the suit-rats, geth were the emotionless synthetic murderers, and batarians were the big bad people who came to take you away and enslave you. The hegemony had a bad reputation, and always for good reason. It was surprising it hadn't been overthrown yet. And its anti-human propaganda was no secret.

With a heavy sigh, she looked out the viewscreen to view Aratoht; the ugly ball of blood that it was. The whole planet looked like a sea of blood; with great blotches of volcanic orange and threads of white cloud here and there. Overall, it was the most unattractive planet in the whole damn system, possibly the whole cluster, and the batarians were 'proud' to colonize; despite its blatant obvious marketing as a 'bone to a starving dog;' a bone thrown by the Council that had disowned them.

And she was charged with defending it; the only inhabited planet in the system; figures. A light cruiser so old it would make the quarians laugh, and it was charged with protecting this planet from the 'big bad humans.' It showed how much the hegemony really cared; that, or its just being the same, brainless fuckwit's autonomy that its always been, which is probably the case. Not that she'd ever say that aloud; she'd have her tongue cut out, especially with such a autocratic government in control. And her crew, you could call them, were hardcore 'hegemony loyalists,' as she called. Herself? She'd like to think of herself as the reformist. Or Neo-Reformist. Or whatever the hell you called it these days. As far as she was concerned, the batarians were the bloody space Nazis; just without the military might and intelligence to go with it...or the extermination camps.

She exhaled a final time before tearing her eyes from the planet infront of them, unable to keep looking at the eyesore longer, as she picked up her datapad and began reading through its contents; apparently the hegemony suspected their was human activity in the Bahak system, and had decided to dispatch a battlegroup of ships to try and ambush it if it ever appeared. She rolled her eyes, seriously annoyed by the fact that the Khar'Shan government was still butthurt over the incident with the SSV Budapest back in 2184. Sure, the Alliance's justification stunk of a cover-up, but couldn't they let it lie?

"Ma'am!" her sensors operator shouted, turning fully in his chair to face her as she turned to him, "I've picked up something on sensors; its IFF pings it as a merchant vessel, under human corporate contract."

She narrowed her eyes, not quite believing it.  _Maybe they really did pick up a human ship. But if its a merchant freighter...its not Alliance, so why all the military build-up?_ She shook her head, leaning forward as she spoke again, "Where's it located?"

"It seems to be...hovering around the relay, captain," even her sensors operator looked confused as he read out the readings, scratching his head, "I don't understand ma'am; they aren't moving an inch. They just seem to be...sitting there. Its location puts it on the skirts of the asteroid system, and its registry lists it as the MSV Ground Zero, an Explorer-Class ship."

Her frown only deepened, troubled by the news.  _Derelict maybe?_ "Does it appear to have power? If its a freighter, does it have any shields?"

"Yes, typical civilian standard. Built to fight off pirate ships, but useless against a cruiser like our own; not designed to fight off military. We'd make short work of it," he appeared to grin as he said it, "Crew could make nice slaves; maybe the hegemony will shove a few extra credits our way, eh captain?"

Batarians found it hard to roll their eyes, but Sargesh did her best as she leaned backwards, shaking her head as she did, dumping her datapad on the arm of her chair, "We're not here to make a slave run, operator. I don't do slave trade; better get that into your head quickly. Sensors, send the navigator the coordinates of that ship and plot a course. Communications, hail the human vessel. Let them know we're here."

Not a sound was made, save the low mumble of batarian curses coming from her sensors operator, most of which she ignored as the navigator brought the Glorious Point on a full port turn, keeping on this course until they were no longer facing the red surface of Aratoht, and asteroids danced past them, followed by the Alpha Relay. And in the distance, just barely seen, was the rugged outline of the MSV Ground Zero.

_We'll soon find out what you're up to. I dont dislike humans, but I'll give the hegemony this; they have a right to be concerned. They just seem to be...hanging...there. Snoop, maybe? Surveillance vessel? Gathering intel on us?_

"Bring us one hundred kilometers off their starboard bow; just enough to be in view," Sargesh ordered, leaning to her left and placing her elbow on said side, "I want them to see us. I want them to know we won't tolerate this violation of our territory."

Soon, within two minutes, the BRS Glorious Point sat just a hundred kilometers off the Ground Zero's starboard bow, and hung there, but the freighter made no movements. Narrowing her eyes in concern, she turned to her communications officer, giving him a curt nod to let him know to open up a channel. Quickly hacking into their PA system, the officer turned to her, letting his captain know they could hear her. She nodded and turned back to the screen, speaking.

"Crew of the MSV Ground Zero," Sargesh began, her voice loud and full of demand, "You are in violation of Batarian Hegemony territory. The people of Khar'Shan hereby demand that you leave batarian space immediately or we will act accordingly. Do you understand?"

No response. Not even a whisper, not even a bit of static. She growled lowly, speaking once more after a minute of no reply.

"Crew of the MSV Ground Zero, this is your second warning. You  _will_ accompany us outside of the Viper Nebula  _immediately_. I will not ask again."

Still no response. The ship just sat there, ever silent.

Having had enough, she got a look at her tactical officer, speaking as she did, "Prep two Slinger torpedoes and fire them 20 meters along their stern; warning shots, make sure not to hit. Also, prep a squad of soldiers and have them meet me at the airlock. If this doesn't work, they'll board the ship and see if its abandoned; I'll lead them myself."

She pulled a Raider shotgun out from under her chair, folding it into her lap and pulling out a bag of thermal clips as well, watching the viewscreen as she absent-mindedly loaded the weapon with a thermal clip, sliding it into the open chamber and slamming it shut, pumping the injection cylinder to load the shotgun.

She watched as a lance of dark red light shot out from one of the cruiser's bow torpedo launch tubes, the shot missing the freighter by what seemed to a hair's breadth, followed by a second, both shots missing cleanly. That should get their attention.

But it didn't. Not a sound, not a single engine firing up or shields flaring. Not even a hiss of protest from the ship's bridge crew. Just utter silence. Growling to herself, she shook her head as she shot up, raider shotgun in her grip, "That's it; they've had their chance, now its time to act. Locate the ship's airlock and bring us in for boarding action."

She didn't even wait for a response as she marched of the bridge in just her dress fatigues, or what passes for uniform in the batarian military, and moved towards the airlock, which was located just outside the bridge, as was customary in most warship designs. The requested squad of soldiers was already rushing up to the bridge when she got there, all of them carrying M-55 Argus assault rifles and shotguns ranging from the traditional batarian Raider, to the powerful, human made M-11 Wraith. They all wore the grey/brown light to medium armor of the Batarian Hegemony military, with full-head helmets, making their features invisible to the normal eye.

She nodded to them, and together, they moved through and into the cruiser's airlock, waiting for the decontamination sequence to run its course before they moved into the Ground Zero's airlock, the squad's hacker bypassing it as they moved inside, taking up defensive positions.

In an instant, two humans, wearing black and white armor and wielding avenger assault rifles and equally sealed up armor, spun around, taking aim. One of her men fired his raider, the shotgun tearing through shields and armor due to the proximity and killing the human instantly. The second armed soldier was equally as dispatched, but not before gunfire poured into the hallway.

"Damn humans!" She raised her shotgun, rushing into the frey as her men returned fire at the surprising well-trained human mercenaries, "Always got to do it the hard way!"

About five of them waited at the end of the deck, using both sides of the hallway to take cover as they exchanged fire with the batarian troopers. Shots were exchanged from her side equally, including herself as she leaned out and caught one woman full in the face with her shotgun, blowing it asunder from getting back behind cover.

"You don't understand!" the voice of an elderly human woman shouted from down the deck, "You...you musn't...you musn't interrupt our important work! You don't...ahhh...you don't understand what's at...WHAT'S AT STAKE!"

Sargesh merely scowled as she peeked out of cover, watching as said elderly woman, clad in white labcoat and holding a predator pistol, fired at their position. She shook her head as she took aim at the female.  _What is she on about?_ Her sights landed over the human, but she hesitated as she went to pull the trigger.  _I won't find out if I kill her._ Instead, she swung the weapon to the left and instead blew into the chest of a charging trooper, killing him instantly and spilling his guts out onto the deck.

The battle was over quickly, as her men were far better equipped; but they those mercs...they were heavily-trained, giving how they fought. She shook the coming thoughts away as she reloaded her shotgun, her squad following behind her as they cornered the remainders of the human crew, who immediately dropped their weapons, seeming to immediately, and in a very machine-like manner, to instantly fall, hands and knees, onto the ground, hands behind their heads. The elderly woman dropped her weapon, but did not kneel, only seeming to glare at her.

"You must not stop us," she spat, "You musn't."

"Stop what..." Sargesh began, eyes trailing down to the name tag on the woman's coat, "...Doctor Kenson?"

The woman's glare was full of fire, and...something else? Something much more sinister...a presence that seemed to send shivers down her spine, "The...we must destroy this relay. We must destroy it. For the sake of all..." she seemed to zone out, and she gripped her head in severe pain, but she ignored it, speaking once more, "...for the sake of all life, IT MUST BE DESTROYED!"

"Destroy the relay!?" one batarian exclaimed, shoving his weapon barrel inches from Kenson's face as he brimmed with barely contained batarian rage, "Human terrorists; I knew it! Those mercs were too well trained! They're Alliance, I bet!"

"I do not act on behalf of the Systems Alliance," Kenson retorted, meeting the soldier's glare with absolutely no fear at all in her pose. A matter of fact, she didn't seem to be feeling anything except anger at the moment, "I act on behalf of what's right. Please, you  _must_ let us complete our work. The Reapers...they're coming! If we don't destroy this relay...THEY'LL KILL US ALL! ALL OF YOU! YOUR CHILDREN! NONE OF US WILL LIVE!"

Rolling her eyes, she merely shot forward, having stopped listening at 'destroy the relay.' Her weapon shooting forward, she rammed the butt into Kenson's forehead, sending her flying back and onto the deck, unconscious. And in that instant, the all crew just...well...went  _feral._

Snarls and growling was heard as everyone leapt up, charging at them. She yelled out as she raised her weapon, blowing the torso off one human who got too close. The rest of them were mowed down as they charged at the soldiers; a slaughter house if there ever was one. Red jets of crimson shot up in all directions as the human crew fell in droves; bodies plopping down ontop of each other where they fell as they tried to overwhelm the batarian squad in an animalistic fashion.

Within a minute, all gunfire ceased, this time with the entire crew dead, save for Kenson's unconscious form now lying on the ground. Sargesh simply stood there, in the midst of her team, who slowly lowered their weapons, turning to her for leadership as she simply eyed the dead mountain of corpses with shock.  _That..._ _ **ferocity**_ _. It was just animalistic. What the hell is wrong with these people?_ Her eyes quickly landed on Kenson, and remembered just what these humans had admitted to trying to do. She didn't know they planned to do it, but the intent was there, and it was enough for her anger to boil.  _She'll explain what the fuck they were trying to do here. And what the hell these 'Reapers' are._

She pointed at Kenson's unconscious body, "Pick her up and lock her up in the brig; also, destroy this ship with all crew onboard. We'll take her to Aratoht; Warden Fertagh can question her. I'm sure the Hegemony will want to know just why a human freighter was trying to blow up a mass relay. In  _our_ territory."

The squad seemed to hesitate for a moment at her orders, but one glare at the squad sergeant had them rushing to complete their orders in an instant, two men picking her up by the arms, flinging them over their shoulders and dragging her off and down the flight deck towards the airlock. The rest of the squad followed, with Sargesh at the front, her mind full of vehemence, confusion and concern.

"Why did you do that, captain?" the squad sergeant asked, "I thought you didn't hate humans. But that look on your face...you looked about to murder somebody."

She shook her head in response as they continued their approach to the airlock, coming to step infront of it, "I didn't," she responded, and she walked into the airlock, squad following behind as they prepared to leave for Aratoht, dragging one suspicious human scientist with them.

"That's until they planned to blow up a batarian relay. They became terrorists..."

"...and you know how much I  _hate_ terrorists."

**{Loading...}**

_November 15, 2185_

_2016 hours._

_Cockpit, Normandy-Class Stealth Frigate Normandy SR-2, Aquila System, Ismar Frontier Cluster._

_Commander Marcus Lee Shepard, Chief Engineer Tali'Shepard vas Normandy, Ex-Shadow Broker Meru'Zorah vas Rayya, Flight Lieutenant Jeff 'Joker' Moreau._

The silence in the cockpit had never been so thick as it was right now. He stood there, his hands clasped tightly behind his back as he assumed a parade rest position, barely moving an inch in his Terminus armor, eyes gazing blankly out the cockpit window. Joker sat in the pilot's seat, barely the same amount of sound as he lazily drifted the Normandy towards the Tonbay.

Tali stood on his right, with Meru beside her, both of them talking almost constantly. Tali hadn't shown any negative side effects to the serum yet, so he guessed that was a good thing. But the only real way to find out if it was actually working was to...well...yeah.

But those thoughts only stirred what was already going on in his mind. To think, it had all started with Zaeed. And from there...just when did it really start to decline? Was it Zaeed? Or was it the destruction of the Shadow Broker and his replacement by Liara? When did it all truly begin? Zaeed was gone; to help the coming war. Miranda's comatose on Illium, Jack's comatose on the Citadel, Grunt has left with Wrex to return to Tuchanka, and Thane has left to see his son one last time before rejoining them in combat.

And now three more people would be leaving them, not including Meru. Three more people, squadmates and comrades... _friends_ , who had charged into the howling darkness with him and bled so they would destroy the Collectors, were leaving.

Lia had been first, technically. She had planned on sneaking out, but Joker had caught her, and she had been ashamed, eventually explaining that she had her pilgrimage to complete, and she was of more use to her people than on the Normandy. Marcus had been angry at Joker for just letting her leave, but knew it was unjustified; Lia had a right to leave, and knew what was best for herself. It didn't make her departure any less harrowing.

Then there was Legion. Again, he had to hear from a secondary source, but the geth itself hadn't left itself. EDI had informed him that the geth believed that returning to Rannoch was a better and safer way to exchange important information on the Reapers, and would allow it to prepare its people for the looming threat. He agreed...he always did...and as soon as they left the Migrant Fleet, they would rendevous with a geth interceptor and Legion would leave with it back into the Perseus Veil. And because of this, his plans to unite the quarians and the geth were completely torn asunder.

Another plan ripped to shreds.

And finally, Professor Mordin Solus, the scientific genius of the crew. His explanation was alot more vague than the others, stating that he had 'moral issues to resolve' and that he 'felt he needed some clarity and closure' before he died. The fact the salarian was extremely old in human terms, equivalent to his 90s for humans, saddened Marcus. He had come to know the salarian well, and alot better than the brief time he had talked to him during and after the Battle of Virmire, and the man had a dark past; one he continued to justify, but one he knew deep down he wanted to atone for. It wasn't something Marcus could deny him, no matter how much he needed him. Mordin would stay with them awhile longer, but once they came within range of a inhabited colony, he would take a shuttle and leave.

He wasn't an idiot, by any means. He had left Chakwas the last of his research and medication regarding his and Tali's possible child, and anything that had directly effected the crew would be left in her hands, so all areas were covered.

It wasn't that that saddened him. It was their departure. Sure, he had the people he cared about the most...

He glanced at Tali, but his gaze quickly got dragged back into the void of space, and not even a smile broke across his lips.  _Its never enough. You don't forget the losses. They may leave, but they're still alive. But by the end of this war? I don't know..._ He thought of the people he had lost already. The people who had died before the war even begun.

Nihlus. Jenkins. Ashley. Fai Dan. Palin.

Even Saren.

He had barely known Jenkins or Nihlus before they died. Fai Dan had seemed like a good man. Palin had been a by the law kind of person. And Saren had only been doing what he thought was right for the entire galaxy, even if he had been his enemy.

It was the memories of Ashley that truly haunted him. He had known her, spoke to the marine, and the love she had for Kaidan, and the one the latter marine reciprocated. He remembered how that love had gone up in a nuclear fireball, and how that remained of Ash was her sisters and the rifles left uncleaned on the weapons rack she left behind. The woman he had met on Eden Prime, a terrified marine who had only just escaped the slaughter of her unit, yet so eager to join his crusade to stop the destruction of the galaxy. Ashley had been remarkable, and the Normandy was less of a whole for her loss.

He had lied about how much Ashley's death had affected him. He had pretended that he had gotten over it and moved on, but when he looked back at himself and his situation now, he hadn't. He never had. He had never recovered from her death because it reminded him of what he had lost on Elysium. On Torfan. On Akuze.  _All the people I've lost under my command. I thought I had changed...and Ashley had to die to prove me wrong._ He glanced again at Tali, his eyes lingering alot longer.  _And no matter how I try to ignore it, I can't shake the feeling away that even Tali may die before this is all over. The whole crew might perish before the Reapers are vanquished..._

And to his growing disgust...

...he was becoming more and more accustomed to that. And it terrified him what thoughts like that might lead to.

But despite all his woes and sadness, he moved on. Because he was Commander Shepard. And Commander Shepard never faltered, never gave in, never collapsed.

...if only that were true.

"ETA 30 seconds to dock, Commander," Joker spoke up, shaking Marcus from his thoughts as he watched the Tonbay's hull close in, "They're requesting IDENT from the ship's captain."

He nodded and spoke, knowing Joker had already set the comm unit to the cockpit, "This is Commander Marcus'Shepard vas Normandy, Captain of the Normandy, requesting permission to dock with the Tonbay, over."

"Solid copy Normandy. We read you five-by-five," the Tonbay's communications operator replied without missing a beat, "Proceed to the main airlock. We presume you are here for Admiral Raan?"

"We are indeed Tonbay," Marcus replied.

"Copy. The admiral will meet you at the airlock. Tonbay out," with that, comms cut out and Joker slowly glided the ship so that their airlock aligned perfectly with the old quarian ship's and began to move closer into a docking position. Not even waiting to witness the connection, Marcus turned away from the cockpit windows, and unclasped his hands, his left leaning down and slipping inside his helmet, picking up and letting it hang at his side as he turned to the two talkative quarians at his side, "Okay, time to go. Let's face the music."

"Face the music?" Meru asked, confused but quickly resolved to answer for herself, "Wait, let me guess. Its a human saying," noticing the curt nod Marcus gave, she chuckled half-heartedly, "I thought so. You humans have so many."

He let a slight grin cross his face, "It gives us a unique persona, if you ask me."

"Apparently so," Meru chuckled, moving past him and into the airlock, Tali moving to follow. He moved to put on his helmet, but stopped when he felt a soft, three-fingered hand grab his hand, stopping it and forcing him to lower the helmet so that he would look her in the eyes.

She spoke first, her voice soft and tone low, "Is there something wrong? You're acting strange. You haven't talked to me for the entire ride here. Anything we need to talk about?"

 _She had seen it. She saw me; the sadness in my eyes. She always knows. Always so observant, my Tali._ The thought usually would have cheered him up, but his sober state made that nearly impossible at present. He merely shook his head, "Its nothing you need to worry yourself with, Tali. Just remembering the past."

She gave him a skeptical look, one that he met with a cold, emotionless look.  _I'm so sorry, Tali. But you don't deserve to carry the same burdens I do._ He wished he could fall into her arms, and just empty out all his burdens into her, but he couldn't do that to her: that would be selfish. Irresponsible.  _I would never do that to you. And because of that, I alone must carry my burdens._

"As long as you're sure," Tali finally spoke, letting her hand fall from his shoulder, and he knew she was still suspicious, "You know I'm here if you need me."

He gave her a convincing smile, "I know,"  _I always need you, I'm just too much of a male to admit it. I can't be weak; not now. The galaxy needs me. I need to be strong, to be the shining paragon they believe me to be. If only they knew who I really was...who I was after Torfan was not who I am now...if only, if only..._ He gave her a quick nod, before turning to join Meru in the airlock, Tali following behind him. Her thoughts remained skeptical of him.

 _What's wrong with him? He was fine not too long ago; now he seems...distant. Is it because of Lia, Legion and Mordin leaving? I'll have to ask him later._ She had to admit, she had liked Lia and Mordin had been nice to talk to, and even Legion had grown on her, but she didn't think their leaving would leave her so distraught as Marcus seemed to be.

Their time in the airlock was short, and ever silent. Marcus barely moved an inch, his eyes seeming to be focused solely on the pressure seal before him. Meru stood behind him on his left, hands at her side and watching Tali with an analyzing look. Tali herself seemed to be entirely set on watching her husband, her eyes scanning his form seemingly far away, almost looking...afraid? Why was she afraid of him? Or was it concern? Her analysis of quarian body language had fled her due to the time she had actually spent away from her people, but from what she could tell, Tali and Marcus were excellent together. They seemed to adore each other, protect each other, and make up for each other's strengths and weaknesses. They were perfect.

If only Marcus was quarian. Or Tali was human. Then they could conceive. Have the children they deserved. She had always envisioned her little girl being a mother some day, but it appeared that the ancestors did not favor that path. Tali was not meant for motherhood, and that Meru could accept.

The subject of motherhood brought up a painful subject she had tried to avoid, and one that had brought tears to her eyes on several occassions.

Her husband was dead; killed in his attempts to build a home for a wife he thought dead and a child who had long given up hope in bringing out the father in him; the one that had died with Meru's absence. She knows she should have been there, and she kept wondering what would have happened if she had never made that deal with the batarians.  _I could have avoided all this. Rael's distancing himself from Tali...Rael dying...Keelah, maybe Tali would never have been put on trial for treason in the first place...maybe my husband would still be alive..._ Tears threatened to escape her, but she would not allow them. She could do that in private.

No, now she needed to play the survivor. She needed to play the unexpected Broker. Only when she was in the privacy of her new quarters could she weep her grief. Until then, she must remain strong for her people...for Tali...for herself.

The Normandy finished docking with the Tonbay, and with that, the airlock hissed as decontamination protocols kicked in, like usual. The air pressurized with the outside and eventually the door slid apart, revealing the dull interior of the cruiser that Shala called her home.  _Its been such a long time...what will she do? Order me shot? Believe me an impostor? Ha! That will be a sight to see._

Marcus moved inside first; the spectre looking ever intimidating in his full, bulky set of Terminus combat armor; tall and undaunted. Tali followed by his side, taking his armoured glove in her unarmoured one, and squeezing it, to which Marcus gave her a quick look, before pulling it away. Meru followed not far behind, and soon all three of them found themselves on the dock of the Tonbay.

A squad of quarian marines stood at the airlock, most of them carrying assault rifles and SMGs simply for show, as everyone knew Commander Shepard and his crew, and knew they would not here to attack them. A few frowned at Meru, as some of them knew Shepard's crew long enough to know that he only had one quarian crew member; well, one quarian  _female_ member, anyway, but Meru ignored their looks, merely joining Marcus' side as the sergeant of the detail addressed him.

"Admiral Raan will join you shortly," the sergeant said hesitantly, speaking his next few words with careful delicacy, "You have caught her at a...very important moment. Suffice to say, now was not a good time to show up."

"What's happened?" Tali quickly jumped in, concerned for her aunt, "Is she alright? Did someone hurt her? Or is she still recovering from her mate's death? If anything has-"

"Nothing like that ma'am," the sergeant interrupted, holding up his hands after holstering his Tempest SMG, "The Admiral, however, prefers that I do not say anything else. It concerns classified quarian military intel."

"I understand," Marcus replied sincerely, "Being a soldier, I understand where the line blurs between family relations and simply what's not to be said."

The sergeant nodded, a smile forming behind his mask, "True enough," his look quickly fell on Meru, and his smile turned into a noticable frown, even behind the helmet, "Who's this? The file I got never mentioned another quarian woman on your crew; well, aside from Miss Soi, anyway. Just who is this?"

"That's for Admiral Raan to discover, I'm afraid," Marcus replied with a curt shrug, "Not much I can do about that. She wishes to remain anonymous."

"Very well," the sergeant replied, "But if she's an exile, I will have her shot, you understand?"

"I don't necessarily appreciate the threats," Marcus stated in a calculated tone, "But I get what you mean, soldier. I can assure you, she's no exile. Merely someone who has been away from the left for alittle bit too long."

A moment later, Shala arrived, moving down the corridor towards them with a purpose in her step, as all admirals usually do. Although there was something different about it; it seemed alot more weary, tired and saddened, not the usual 'I've got something to do, and somewhere to go' kind of walk, but the kind that was full of sadness and regret. What had happened to induce that in the woman?

"Tali'Shepard. Marcus'Shepard," Shala greeted, wrapping her arms around her niece and the commander respectively, as if to mask the sadness she experienced, "It is good to see you again, but I did not expect to see you so soon. You have a 'honeymoon' as you humans call it to enjoy, do you not?"

"Yeah, we were enjoying it," Marcus began.

"Until the Shadow Broker's thugs attacked us in our apartment," Tali finished for him.

Shala's eyes widened in an instant, "He did!? Were you hurt, either of you?"

"No. But the Shadow Broker certainly paid dearly for that mistake," Marcus declared smugly, "After that attack, Liara managed to locate his base and we launched an all out assault on it. The original Broker is dead now, and Liara is now the new one, so we can continue safely without that worry."

"You killed  _the_ Shadow Broker, let alone found him? Keelah, you never cease to impress. The both of you," Shala stated with a half-hearted laugh, "You'd think you two were immortal. Not even the most powerful of people can kill you."

That got a laugh out of Marcus, "Yeah. I'd like to think the Illusive Man is next on our hit list, but he seems to be the slippier fish to catch," he squared his shoulders, sighing happily as he knotted them, "I'm just happy we got him out of the way. I feel much better knowing I don't have to constantly look behind my back. I'm sure Tali is too. But just for safety's sake, I think we'll continue our honeymoon in our cabin on the Normandy. Less windows to blow up. However, the Shadow Broker wasn't exactly who we expected..." he almost turned around to look at Meru, but dare not do so for the repercussions, "We...well we...let's say the Broker isn't exactly a person, and is actually two people."

"That's interesting Marcus," Shala sarcastically commented, "But you best stop being coy. Why is this important?"

"Because we only killed half of the Broker. The dangerous part. The second half was a...much different matter," Marcus trailed off, "We couldn't kill  _her._ "

"Her?" Shala asked quizzically, "Who's 'her?'" she looked to Tali for some explanation but, finding none, turned back to Marcus, eyes demanding answers, "Marcus'Shepard, why is this person so important that even Tali seems unwilling to tell me?"

"Well Shala, that's because..."

Meru had had enough, "Oh please, just spit it out. Delaying the inevitable serves us nothing but a foul taste."

All noise in the room went silent, and Shala didn't even look at Meru at first. Marcus stiffened and went as straight as a tree, while Tali stopped shuffling, eyes watching Shala's for a reaction. The admiral herself slowly turned to face the quarian ghost, the one who was supposed to have died years ago, when Tali was just a child. Her eyes told of her confusion.

"How...no,  _who..._ " she merely stood there, only her head facing Meru as she spoke incredulously. Finally, her body turned fully to face the woman, pointing an accusing finger, "I believed it from Tali about Shepard, but you can't possibly..."

"Unless cloning has been perfected Shala, then I am who you think," she replied, holding her arms out with a smile, "I'm Meru'Zorah, Tali's mother, the woman you thought long dead. You can say the name if you wish. Unless you've made it a curse, which if that is so, I'd rather you rename me to something more appealing."

Shala merely looked on for a few more seconds, still confused and incredulous as to what had just happened. Hands tightened on weapons in terms of the marines, all of them confused as to just who this woman was. After a long, dreadful silence of stillness, Shala spoke, although her words were calculated and coordinated, as if carefully trying to weave her way through a diplomatically awkward predicament. The equilibrium of silence and stillness was almost suffocating.

"My quarters...now. The three of you," Shala she stated firmly, "It is clear we have much to discuss on...recent and past events, it would seem."

The distance to Shala's quarters were crossed pretty quickly, which made Marcus happy...better to get this mess over with sooner, rather than later. Shala's quarters were pretty utilitarianistic and very spartan when it came to preserving face and the fundamentalism of its design, as was common with all quarian ships; even the admirals and captains didn't get special treatment.

When the door was closed, Shala spun at Meru and gave an enraged growl, " **Where the hell have you been all these years!?** " She seemed almost about to assault Meru, but all she did was stand inches from the quarian, Marcus and Tali forced to watch the commotion as it unfolded before them, " **What do you have to say for yourself, disappearing like that!? WHERE HAVE YOU BEEN!"** She pointed at Tali, " **Where were you when she needed you! How dare you make her grieve like that! The Meru I knew would never make her grieve like that!** "

"I didn't have a choice!" Meru exploded, and Shala fell silent as she spoke. She told the admiral about the things she had done to protect her family, and how it had lead to her self-imposed exile, and her need to hide to keep her family safe. She also told her of the conversation she had shared with Tali and Marcus on Hagalaz, and how it had lead to her being here.

By the end, Shala was baffled, "Meru, I'm so sorry. I didn't know...I didn't..."

"Its okay Shala, all is forgiven," the quarian replied, patting the old admiral on the shoulder, "I'm just glad you've taken care of my daughter while Rael didn't," the thought of him saddened her once more, but she pushed those thoughts away, refusing to give in just yet, "I also see you're fitting in the new role of admiral very well. Have you been looking after my patrol fleet?"

Shala forced a chuckle, nodding as she did, "That, and then some. Being admiral is alot more wearisome then I thought it would be in my youth, I admit. I can see why you were so happy to surrender the position, even if the real motivations were justified lies. Although, it appears we can now both share the companionship that comes with widowship."

"Widowship?" Meru asked, confused, "Wait, what happened?"

"You didn't hear? Well, guess even the Shadow Broker doesn't know everything," the admiral replied, shaking her head, "He's gone, Meru. Dead. A human named Kai Leng killed him. He was working with Cerberus. Tried to kill me and my husband got in the way."

"Byp's dead?" Meru asked with sudden horror, and with the confirmation of Shala's slow nod, she almost broke into tears for her old friend, "By the ancestors, I'm so sorry Shala."

"The ancestors had need of him earlier than I thought," Shala stated, but looked at Marcus with a cold look in her eyes, "But if you ever encounter Leng Marcus, I want his  _head_. I want to see Byp avenged. He didn't deserve to die. Not him. Not him of all people."

"I'll see to it Shala," Marcus promised, "That son of a bitch  _will_ pay for his crimes."

"Thank you Marcus," Shala thanked, "That is all I can ask for," she turned back to Meru, a smile in her voice this time, the admiral clearly pushing back her grief, "Now, why don't you tell me what you've been up to for the past couple decades?"

And everyone took a seat and fell silent as Meru explained her adventures as the Shadow Broker.

And all Marcus could think of was the eighty-six different ways he could kill Kai Leng.

**{Loading...}**

_November 16, 2185_

_0329 hours._

_Debriefing Room, Revenge-Class Destroyer CAW Rememberance, Docked with Cronos Station._

_Agent Kai Leng. Agent Eva._

The walk to the debriefing room was measured with cold precision, each step calculated and remembered. His eyes scanned the area around him, constantly trying to analyze his surroundings and trying to find ways to neatralize a crowd of hostiles if they did appear to attack him. It was the same paranoia that allowed him to become such a clean cut killer; to become the assassin that he was, that Cerberus needed him to be. He never would have gotten away with the things he had done if he had been in the Alliance. No, in Cerberus, he was free to do as he wished to get the job done. And Leng loved it.

But that didn't make him infallible, much to his growing disgust. He always vowed to never fail, as failure was a sign of weakness, something that was unacceptable if he was to ascend to perfection. He had failed to kill the quarian admiral, which had left the Illusive Man sour on the topic of using him for further assassinations. Instead, he felt the need to constantly remind Leng of that particular failure, and how he must improve.  _Never again. At least I got to sink my blade into her mate. I killed her, just not in the literal sense. And that gives me joy. It gives me a taste of the victory I failed to achieve; a snippet of what I could feel if I had finished the job._

Instead he ran away like a coward. But not next time; no, next time, he would conclude what he began and then he would bring the Illusive Man her head and helmet. Then he will have succeeded.

He continued through the destroyer's CIC, weaving through the throngs of officers moving about the deck, and ignoring the blank looks of the augmented Cerberus troopers that now patrolled its halls.

The CAW Remembrance, second of a line of brand-new Revenge-Class Destroyers based on updated Alliance designs, was just one of the proud members of the new Cerberus Navy. Her form was small; just alittle bit bigger and longer than a frigate, and only a bit smaller than a light cruiser, with armament enough to tackle a heavy cruiser. The Revenge-Class Destroyers were designed to engage the Alliance's much bigger vessels, particularly carriers, in single combat; quick and agile, and with the range of a sniper, they could cripple a target from long range before they knew what happened, or act as long range fire support for the much bigger Cerberus capital ships. Because of this however, they had lower shields and their armor could only ward off a few torpedo impacts before buckling, but it had an impressive array of broadside torpedo launch bays and even had a few long-range pulse lasers. A few ship-to-ship turrets aligned its spine, and for absolute last resorts or for use against dreadnoughts or space stations, it had a single Chamberlain Tactical Nuclear ICBM ready for launch. And the Illusive Man had definitely stressed how much of a last resort it was; nuclear weapons were hard to come by in a galaxy like this one; but the Alliance was definitely trigger-happy when it came to them.

It possessed at least 913,000 nuclear launch silos on Earth only, all of them with missiles and primed to fire; and only under the Alamo Protocol could they be fired. Of course, it hadn't been hard for Cerberus to duplicate the technology, launch designs, missile prototypes and gather the uranium, plutonium and nuclear fission needed to create the WMDs. Now Cerberus had enough to make the Alliance start pissing itself. Something which Kai Leng loved the idea of. Only he could walk on a vessel containing a weapon capable of levelling an entire city, cause great firestorms, and vaporize anything within its blast zone and not be worried. And this one was only low-yield.

He crossed the deck fairly quickly, the design of the CIC so simplistic that it made traversing it particularly easy enough to find your way around. Two guards stood at attention at the door, both of them Assault Troopers, and both stood aside when he approached the door, unlocking it for his entry. Barely giving them a glance, he kept the same thin line of a mouth pasted on his face as he moved between them and into the debriefing room. The room was pristine white, with a gold table, which had the Cerberus insignia emblazoned on its surface. A few of his phantoms stood in the room, katanas sheathed on their backs and all of them at attention, looking just as blankly at the walls as the troopers had.  _Mindless foot soldiers. But they do their jobs. Mindless is what I need. Mindlessness leaves no room for weakness._

His eyes scanned the room, and quickly came to land on a lone figure standing at the end of the table, a woman. He eyed her wearily, his permanent blank glare watching her carefully as he came to stand inches from the table's golden surface. She stood there, hands clasped behind her back, cold, emotionless eyes having met his upon his entry into the room. She had cropped black hair, piercing green eyes, and smooth, round cheeks. Her bosom jutted out from her chest like a pack of useless balloons and the skin-tight Cerberus uniform she wore accented her curves quite disgustingly well. He did not know this woman, but her very appearence gave her a air of arrogance that only Miranda Lawson could match.  _Lawson. Should have brought the Illusive Man that whore's head on my sword. How I would have enjoyed that. No, I would have made her beg for mercy first...maybe I would have started my cutting off her nipples, then those pathetic tits of hers. Then I'd circumcize her, followed by everything else she holds dear. Once she confesses her treason, I'd then decapitate her and bring a recording of her confession, accompanied by her head. Yes, that would be most beautiful._

Her stare was beginning to irritate him. When women stared at him, it usually meant they wanted to get inside his pants; like whores usually do. Sex and hormones and intercourse was all a foreign concept to Leng; he hadn't had need of it in his profession, and had elected to make sure that any woman seeking such endeavours with him would end up dead or wishing they were. Lawson, to his own grief, had never seeked such a relationship with him, and neither had Chambers, or the rest of the Normandy crew...traitors...

Hell, he hadn't even had a need for a cock. That's why he had had it removed when he was 'upgraded.' It had hurt, oh yes, but it taught him discipline. It helped him shield himself against such agony. To make himself stronger. It had helped. Women were an extravagance, a distraction...entertainment. None of those three appealed to him, so he elected to ignore them. Forcefully. And usually with a few puddles of blood.

"Women who look at me don't usually last long," he spoke finally, breaking the tension between them, but to his growing frustration, it did not break the woman's stare. Incapable of sighing, he merely spoke once more, like a robotic going about its pre-programmed dialogue, "So I recommend you stop looking at me, or I'll elect to cut your eyes out."

"Removing my optical sensors would not be wise," the woman replied, her voice almost...synthetic. Emotionless. Devoid of any form of care or clarity, "It would cause a disruption in the equilibrium of my operation. I could not and would not allow this to happen. I would be forced to terminate you, something which is fully within my programming as a Cerberus infiltrator. The Illusive Man made it so."

 _A synthetic, how surprising. And this one is an AI, too. I thought the Illusive Man would be done with AIs after that one working with Shepard, but apparently not. This one seems to be more restrained however. That's good. I'd hate to rip it open; alot of credits must have gone into making that._ "You bore me with your talk, machine. Just what do you want? I don't know why I was brought here."

"For us to be introduced," the synthetic declared, nodding its head so lazily it might as well have been reading a script, "I am Eva. That is an acronym Enhanced Virtual Assault. I am, by the Illusive Man's command, Cerberus' prime infiltrator. Now that introductions have been exchanged, I must leave. The Illusive Man wishes to speak with you, and I have a mission to be prepped for."

Leng simply watched it leave, the robot moving with the same mechanical grace he had in her exit, and soon, the door had closed on her, ending their brief meeting.  _Eva, huh? A ridiculous name. However, it is much easier to say than Enhanced Virtual Assault. Much easier, I must admit. Still, I'll keep my eyes on that thing. Might betray us like the last one._

Slowly, he approached the front of the table where Eva had been standing and tapped the beeping comm terminal, watching as the table melted into the floor, and his body was scanned into the quantum entanglement communicator. Not long after, the holographic form of the Illusive Man's office appeared, with the Illusive Man already facing him and waiting, sitting as always, leg crossed over the other with his cigar in hand, watching him with piercing blue synthetic eyes.

"Agent Leng," the Illusive Man cooly began, blowing out a fresh puff of smoke, his calm expression giving off a sign of annoyance, "You're late."

"I was bothered with petty introductions," Leng replied, hands at his sides and posture straight as a tree, "I presume I wasn't meant to meet our dear Miss Eva? It is a good thing I did not seperate that pretty neck of hers from her inconveninent-looking body."

The Illusive Man rolled his eyes, "'Wasn't meant to' is a strong term to use, Leng, and I would watch its use if I were you. No, you were merely not scheduled to meet her. You just happened to come across her after her own mission debriefing."

"What mission?" Leng asked, "Is there something I should know?"

"Nothing particularly ground-breaking. But it will give us an insight into the Alliance's activities and what they know about the Reapers," the leader of Cerberus replied, "Suffice to say, Eva's espionage into the Mars Archives is, as of now, none of your concern. I will be sure to update you when it becomes your concern. Suffice to say, her mission there could provide valuable intel. The scientists in our scientific division believe the Alliance knows more about the Reapers then they are letting in on; they may have even uncovered information on a Prothean artefact. One capable of destroying the Reapers."

Leng scoffed, "This is obviously a myth. The Protheans would not be long dead if they had a weapon capable of such destruction. Best to contribute resources to something more practical; something tangible and real, not something based on a fable."

The Illusive Man's scowl was ambient, "Do not presume to tell me where and where I may not devote resources too, Leng. You are becoming too complacent, as of late. If my scientists believe there is a weapon in those Archives, Eva will find it. And if it doesn't exist? Then she'll continue her search elsewhere. A few months should do it. Besides, even if we don't find the artefact, she will be able to extract a vast treasure trove of information. Remember, the Mars Archives is  _the_ jackpot of Prothean technology, history and culture. If there's a weapon to be found or technology to be unlocked, it will be there. Not that you need concern yourself with such matters."

"I don't much care for the technology of a dead race," Leng sneered, "They failed, but humanity shall not."

"Once again, your ignorance fails to rot," TIM sighed, exasperated, "Not that I should be surprised. You're obsession with the art of ending lives has left you blind to the true intricacies of social life and historical revelations. It has left you rather...bland, in that regard. Not that I need to make a scientist out of you, of course; your ability to kill does not require knowledge of long dead races. Which is why you won't be accompanying Eva. No, I have another task for you."

Leng stood straighter, mind clearing and refocusing with the prospect of fresh death, "Whatever you require of me, I will make it so."

"If only that were true all the time," the Illusive Man remarked, as always, bringing up the topic of his failure with the Admiral Raan assassination, before moving on, clearing his throat, "I want you to locate and trail Aria T'Loak. Petrovsky's rule over Omega is absolute; of that, I have no doubt, and Aria could not hope to retake it. But I'd rather keep her under watch for now, at least for a month, until I can be sure she'll pose no further threat. That's  _if_ you can locate her, and that's  _if_ you manage to not be spotted. Think you can do that?"

"Yes," Leng replied simply, "It shall be done."

"Good. Keep me updated on your progress, then," the Illusive Man replied, but before he could cut the line, Leng spoke again.

"Wait," Leng hurriedly pleaded, "I would ask something of you."

"Would you?" TIM replied, "Speak."

It was a question that always lingered on Leng's mind; the ultimate kill. His ultimate trophy. The one that would make him the true assassin. The one who's blood would taste the sweetest in his mouth and on his lips, "When will I be able to kill Shepard?"

TIM scanned him for a few moments, before meeting the area where Leng's eyes were and speaking once more, his tone more diplomatic, "You have not brought this up before Leng. Why do you want to kill Shepard?"

His response was immediate, "Because he is a filthy traitor. You gave him life, and in return, he spat in your face. He disgraces humanity with his very existence. He cares more about aliens then he does his own species, and even has the disgusting need to marry a suit-rat!  _A suit-rat!_ The very thought makes me sick to the stomach! However, he is a worthy warrior, and I would relish defeating him in combat. I would humiliate him with defeat, before bringing you his head and the testicles he no longer needs. He is a plague, and I would be your cure to disperse at will."

TIM mulled over his words for a short while more before snuffing out his cigarette in the ash tray beside him, before letting go of the dead butt and shaking his head, eyes meeting his once more, "And like with all plagues, the cure must wait. Shepard is a traitor, I could not agree more, but once again you fail to see the bigger picture Kai Leng. That always has been one of your faults. Shepard will fall, and I promise it'll be by your hands, but not now. Not yet. He has far too much work to do. But when the time comes, you will strike him down."

Leng merely nodded, "Very well."

The connection was cut, and Leng left the room, a very different man. He was still a cold, calculating machine, but now he had one mission, and one goal. It would make up the entirety of his life for now. It would be his sole purpose.

He would kill Shepard. Kill his quarian slut. He would kill the  _entire Normandy crew._ And when he brings the Normandy into Cerberus drydock, with the corpses of aliens and humans alike all dumped in its cargo hold, the Illusive Man would give him the attention he deserved. Shepard was the ultimate prize.

And Kai Leng would acquire it. Through the taste of blood.

**{Loading...}**

_November 16, 2185_

_0516 hours._

_The Shepards' Quarters, Normandy-Class Stealth Frigate Normandy SR-2, In Orbit of Terra Nova._

_Commander Marcus Lee Shepard._

_"Shepard."_

_He spun to face the source of the voice, but all he saw was the same perpetual darkness; the same blurs of light that danced behind the scenes, tormenting him; mocking him. He wanted to scream, but everytime he opened his mouth, nothing came out. He was trapped, he had nowhere to go. He wanted to fall inside of him, but he couldn't. He was Commander Shepard. He couldn't fall apart. He couldn't collapse. He was infallible._

_"Shepard."_

_The whisper was stronger...closer this time. It was more familiar, and he tried to put a name to the voice, but he couldn't. He desperately tried to find a source of light, but he couldn't find anything. He couldn't speak, he couldn't scream, and he couldn't see. He was helpless; and that was one of the worst feelings a soldier could have._

_"Shepard."_

_This time, he did recognize the voice, and all light seemed to return for a second, focusing on a single point. One area. His throat felt less constricted this time, and when he turned around, his eyes went wide._

_There stood a female figure clad in pink and white Phoenix light combat armor, with the helmet off. A Striker pistol was wrapped in her grip in her right hand, the barrel smoking and overheated. Her armor was covered in splotches of white and orange; the blood of krogan and geth, alike. Then his eyes landed on her face, recognizing it in an instant. Her smooth features, the raven black hair that was braided in a ponytail at the back of her head, and the supple, red lips of hers. She was beautiful, and she was a soldier with a dark past._

_He finally gained the ability to speak, and at that moment, he could only mutter one word; a name, "Ashley."_

_Her face was emotionless as she spoke, "Skipper. Welcome to hell."_

_He shook his head, "Hell? I don't understand. Hell doesn't exist, does it?"_

_"Oh, its not hell in the literal sense," Ashley replied, dropping her pistol as she did, "Its your personal hell. Remember me? Tell me, how is Kaidan going?"_

_"Ash..." he whimpered, "I didn't meant to...It wasn't supposed to...I was going to come back for you..."_

_"Oh, were you?" the gunnery chief retorted, shaking her head with a fake grin of mirth, "Well, isn't that a relief to my dead corpse. Were that I_ _**had** _ _a corpse. Unfortunately, your nuclear bomb made sure of that. You made off safe, with Tali and everyone else, and left me to die."_

_"No, you sacrificed yourself!" he shot back, unable to take it. She wasn't real. She died on Virmire. None of this was real. It was all a nightmare. He just had to wake up._

_"Is that what you say to yourself in your sleep?" Ashley ridiculed, her voice becoming a pitiless snarl, "Is that the song you sing to Kaidan, the man I loved? He loved me too, you know. That was...until you took that all away from him. Commander Shepard, so willing to pretend he cares for his crew and that all so willing to dispose himself of them when he sees fit. We're all toy soldiers to you, aren't we?"_

_"That's not true..." Shepard pleaded._

_"Don't lie!" Ashley spat, moving to within inches of his face, "Especially not in the face of the truth. You are a pathetic little man, Shepard. Noone cares about you. You'll face the Reapers all alone when the rest of the crew figures out your dirty little secrets. Tali will stop loving you, Garrus will want you dead, and Kaidan will finally see you for the man you really are; a murderous scumbag who's willing to murder his own friends for his own survival and gain. You're a coward, Marcus Shepard."_

_He shook his head, but could only watch as Ashley backed away. His eyes were suddenly unable to move, fixated on Ashley's retreating form. She only gazed at him, a forced smile on her face, "Tell me, have you ever been vaporized by a nuclear bomb? Of course you haven't. But I have. Its quite painless. Well, if you're in the Ground Zero, anyway. If you're not, then its excruciatingly painful, I've heard. Involves lot of melting flesh, sizzling eyeballs, and an incinerated skeleton. Then you've got the firestorm; completely destroys everything. And if you survive that, then you've got the nuclear winter. That's the slowest kind of death; death by radiation. The most painful. Luckily for me, I was in the ground zero. But you weren't. Oh, imagine if the Normandy had an engine failure? Oh yes, what would have happened then..."_

_Before his eyes, and to his horror, Tali, along with Garrus, Wrex, Kaidan and Liara appeared behind Ashley, along with Chakwas and Joker. All of them looked at him accusingly, and Ashley only mocked him further as the sound of fire reached his ears, "Imagine...if you all_ _**burned with me.** _ _"_

_Cries of agony shot up into the air like a chorus of sirens and tears flowed from Shepard's eyes as he watched as his friends screamed and wreathed, their bodies going up in flame as the flesh sizzled and popped off their body, slipping and slidding in wet pools, pits of bone and skeleton appearing all over; the picture made him sick to the core. But his eyes wouldn't budge and he could only watch in sheer terror and horror as their skin slid off their bones, as their eyes popped out of their sockets, and they fell to the ground; all that was left of them was sizzling skeletons. He screamed as Tali's suit caught fire and she too succumbed, her beautiful pale skin vaporized in seconds and her accusing eyes popping. She reached out an arm, begging for help but it soon fell, her body exploding as her skeleton blew apart, scattered to the wind. Ashley soon followed her fate, and her last words fell on the wind..._

_**"What if you burnt with them."** _

_He could only scream as his own body melted and wreathed, and a gargantuan white flash filled his vision followed by a sound like that of a clap of thunder..._

He sat straight in bed, springing up like a well-placed spring, his body drenched in a cold sweat. He quickly looked around his room to see if everyone was okay, and noticed that he was back in his cabin. He heard soft snoring, and looked to the right, letting out a long breath at the sight of Tali's naked form curled under the blankets and sleeping softly. She hadn't woken, so he merely kissed her on the shoulder, taking in her taste before he tossed the covers on his side aside and sat on the edge of the bed, holding his head in his hands, wiping the unwelcome sweat from his forehead and cheeks.

 _I've never had a dream so vivid. Those images...they felt so real..._ But what had truly frightened him was how his mind perceived Ashley in that dream. It perceived her with a deep sense of loathing for him, of hatred. But she hadn't hated him had she? She had known what had needed to be done. But to see the flesh melting from her bones...he wanted to vomit, but his body would not let him. Instead, he let out a rough cough, feeling as if he was about to choke.

His omni-tool beeped on his night stand, and he reached out to it, picking it up and sliding it onto his wrist, activating it. Seeing that EDI was calling him, he let a grim smile reach his lips before he answered the call, whispering, "Thanks for the discretion EDI, what is it?"

"Yeoman Chambers would like to inform you that you have an incoming call for Arcturus Station on a secure channel," the AI informed him, "The caller has been identified as that of Fleet Admiral Steven Hackett."

He frowned, "Admiral Hackett is calling me?" He looked at his bedside clock, "At this hour? Its still morning, even in galactic time."

"The call was marked urgent," EDI stated, "That is all I can say. Would you look me to rout it to your terminal?"

He sighed, shaking his head. Legion had left not too long ago, and Mordin had left a few minutes ago from what he saw on the crew roster section of his omni-tool, leaving the Normandy's crew infinitely smaller. He didn't need this. But whatever it was had to be important if Hackett was contacting him directly from Arcturus, "No," he glanced at Tali's slumbering form, before moving over to the couch where they had haphazardly tossed their clothes, grabbing a shirt, "Patch it through to the debriefing room. I'll be in there in a few minutes."

Once dressed, he immediately entered the elevator, ableit quietly, and sent for the CIC. Once there, he moved across the empty deck, with only Kelly being at her post, and through the armoury into the debriefing room. Once inside, he requested EDI set it up on the big screen at the back instead of the quantum entangler. Following his request, he leaned back against the table, crossing his arms whilst rubbing the soreness from his eyes; the lack of sleep he had was disgusting. Even his and Tali's love-making last night hadn't helped. It wasn't long before the feed was put through, and Hackett's familiar, old-grissled face appeared on the screen.

"Commander Shepard, glad you could make time for this. I'm sorry for waking you at this ungodly hour, but something serious has happened that requires your attention."

Marcus' interest was peaked in a second, the fuzziness in his eyes fading as he met the admiral's gaze, "What's happened? Has the Alliance fucked up on something, and needs me to sweep up some stuff?"

"Nothing like that. Much worse, actually," Hackett replied cooly, clasping his hands behind his back in a position he seemed to love, as all officers did apparently, "We have a deep-cover operative working out in batarian space; the Viper Nebula, to be precise. She, along with a marine battalion and some of our best scientists were volunteered for black ops in that nebula."

He still wasn't sold, "Just what are they doing in batarian space? Is the Alliance trying to start a war?"

"No Shepard. We're trying to stop one," Hackett replied, shaking his head, "Doctor Amanda Kenson and her team were called The Project. They were tasked with finding any evidence of the Reapers' existence. She got it, and alot more. Her last communication states that she believes that a Reaper invasion is imminent."

"Tell me something I don't know," Marcus replied, shaking his head incredulously, "She's only proving what I've been telling the Alliance and the Council for years."

"Except this is alot more serious commander," the admiral declared, gulping, "As of last communication, the Reapers are due to arrive in seven days."

His eyes widened in shock, eying the admiral, "What!?"  _All our planning. All our hard work. How did they get here so quickly? I thought we'd have more time! Only a week until the Reapers are here!?_ "What's her proof!? Just how did the Reapers get here so quickly!?"

"They aren't here yet, Commander, so rest easy," Hackett informed him, "Kenson has stated that the Reapers will still take quite a long time to reach our galaxy, but they may reach it sooner through the use of a continegency plan they had set up in case the Citadel failed; she believes the Alpha Relay, also known as the Bahak Relay and Viper Nebula's main relay, could be the key to their entry. Due to this discovery, she was tasked with finding any means possible to stop the Reapers from arriving."

Marcus had listened the whole way through and was intrigued, but he knew there was a catch. Otherwise Hackett wouldn't have bothered contacting him just now, "But something went wrong, I presume?"

Hackett sighed, rubbing his temples, "Unfortunately, you're correct. Kenson's ship, the Ground Zero, was on its way back to Project Base, a facility she had built on a asteroid in the system's asteroid belt, when a batarian cruiser spotted her. The batarians killed her crew and I've just learnt she's been arrested and taken to Aratoht and accused her on the basis of terrorism against the Hegemony," he finished with his sentence with a obvious air of annoyance, "Now you can see why I've contacted you. We can't risk our marine units in The Project breaking silence and rescuing Kenson. That would only alert them to their presence. Someone else has to land on Aratoht, break Kenson out of prison, and return her to base so she can finish whatever it is she has planned."

Marcus jabbed a finger at himself, desperately holding back a yawn, "Oh, I can only guess who you want to go in."

"We need you Shepard. Kenson needs you. You and your crew are the only ones who's experienced the Reapers head on," Hackett explained, "You're the best candidate to rescue her. We need the best of the best in an op like this. Your old N7 skills will come in handy."

"I bet," he nodded, confirming Hackett's orders, "Very well. As soon as we're done on Terra Nova, I'll have the Normandy set a course for Aratoht. I'll take a team down into the prison, extract Kenson and bug out. Then we'll let her finish whatever she has planned, and we can stop the Reapers from returning just yet."

Hackett's face turned blank, and he didn't nod his agreement. Marcus looked at him for a few seconds before knowing something of what he had said had been wrong, "What is it, Admiral? Did I say something wrong?"

"Shepard, I'm not saying your squad isn't able. They've more than proven their worth to the galaxy," Hackett told him, mouth set in a grim line, "But I need  _you._ As a favor to both of us, I'm asking you to go in alone."

He widened his eyes in shock, uncrossing his arms and narrowing his eyes at the admiral, "Excuse me? Sir, you should know that I don't work alone. I work with a team. People I depend on to watch my back. I can't believe you expect me to waltz into a batarian prison full of murderers and psychopaths with only my weapon to guide me. That's ridiculous. Even I didn't defeat Saren or the Collectors without a team."

"Defeating Saren and the Collectors didn't require stealth," Hackett pointed out, "This does. We want Kenson extracted with minimal diplomatic fallout. The Parliament is up in arms about hiring you to get the job done, but if the Normandy simply bombarded the planet, your name would be all over the headlines, with the batarians demanding your head. The Alliance would be forced to answer. You would be part of a galactic manhunt. Do you want that? For your sake, your wife's and your crew's; go in alone, that's all I can ask."

Marcus took time to ponder on that.  _It's for the best if I go lone wolf on this. I can't risk Tali's safety, or that of the crew's simply because I don't want to go in without a squad. Its something different, but I can do it. I'm N7 special forces for god sake; if I can't do it, noone can. It'll take time to convince Tali on that, but I'm sure I can manage it._

 _It's for the best,_ he continues to tell himself. He just hoped that were true.

He finally met Hackett's eyes, "Okay, I'll set a course for Aratoht and I'll take a shuttle down to the surface. Alone, like you said. Don't want to arouse suspicion."

"You're doing the right thing Commander, I hope you understand that," Hackett hold him, "Keep me posted, Hackett out."

Hackett's face disappeared from the screen, and he was in the process of opening his mouth to tell EDI when the AI spoke, "Joker has already been informed. ETA is one galactic day, Commander."

He nodded solemnly, sighing heavily as he moved around the table and moved to the door, "Thanks EDI," was all the words he could muster as he left the room in utter silence.

The galaxy just hadn't said 'fuck you' enough to him, apparently.

**"And so begins the beginning of the end of our adventure...for now, at least."**

**\- Tali'Shepard pav Rannoch.**

**"Definitely one of the more painful endeavours, I'll admit."**

**\- Marcus Shepard.**

**"What's that?"**

**\- Reia'Inas pav Earth.**

**"You might have heard of it. They call it 'the Bahak Incident.' You'll find out why."**

**\- Marcus Shepard.**

_**A/N:** _

_**This is but a taste of what's to come. Chapter 29 next, and then the Arrival DLC in Chapter 30; 29 will just be the build-up to it and the final conversations before the DLC commences. However, it seems I have forgotten one little fact.** _

_**Chapter 29 might be delayed, for I now have Work Experience to contend with; it lasts a whole week, and I'll be working from 9:00am to 5:00pm at a Law firm, which means I won't have much time to update as I thought. HOWEVER, once that week is over, I can enjoy the holidays, which will last for two weeks, meaning I'll be able to finish Requiem and move on to Holocaust (I hope).** _

_**Keelah Se'lai!** _


	30. The Rude Interruption

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kenson is interrogated. Shepard enjoys what little time with his wife he has left.

**REQUIEM**

**CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE:**

**THE RUDE INTERRUPTION**

_November 16, 2185_

_0531 hours._

_The Shepards' Quarters, Normandy-Class Stealth Frigate Normandy SR-2, In FTL inbound for the Bahak System, Viper Nebula._

_Commander Marcus Lee Shepard, Chief Engineer Tali'Shepard vas Normandy._

Her eyes slowly and lazily opened, her slumber rudely interrupted by the shifting of the covers. When they opened, she saw one half of the bed's covers tossed aside. The drowsiness seemed to vanish from her eyes in an instant, as if her mind sensed the urgency of the situation. Her head snapped back to the left and she looked over her shoulder to see the other side of the bed was empty. Tossing the covers off of her, she quickly quickly picked up one of Marcus' T-shirts and slid it over her head and down to cover her torso, followed by a pair of knickers. Once finished, her eyes scanned the room, only to find the room completely devoid of her husband.

_He never wakes up so early. Where could he possibly be?_

She moved to walk up the steps, but stopped suddenly as her chest ached, causing her to groan in discomfort. The wound inflicted by Peta's knife still hurt when she moved and hadn't quite healed, and she wasn't sure the scar would ever disappear; it would be something she'd carry forever.  _A lover I never loved, and claimed to love me but attacked me in my own bed. The coward will be damned to the stars for eternity, with the ancestors forever punishing his every footfall._

But a different kind of ache suddenly welled up, this one deep within her, this one eminating from...her...keelah,  _really?_ The ache built up until eventually she couldn't stand, and moved to sit down on the edge of the bed, where the ache suddenly ceased. Her eyes narrowed and she looked at the area that ached.  _That ache...that came from my...but how is that possible? The serum can't possibly be taking effect yet. Could it?_ She suddenly remembered Mordin's words.

_"Effects moderate to severe. Will not trouble you. Hoping. However, initial ejaculation may hurt. Womb will ache as sperm adapts to new atmosphere and the womb adapts to foreign bacteria. Fairly simple. Uncomfortable process. Nothing compared to development of child. Will get used to it. Giving birth basically the same as normal; no more pain than usual."_

It continued to ache for a while, until eventually the pain faded away as fast as it came. She sat there, hands in her lap for a few more moments, just mindlessly looking at the closed cabin door as she tried to conjure up some reason why Marcus would be up and about this time of morning.  _I don't understand it. I didn't think Lia, Legion and Mordin leaving would have bothered him this much. But it has; and I don't understand why! Why can't I understand! I'm meant to comfort him, for ancestors' sake!_

She fiddled with the covers for about half minute while she tried to gather her thoughts. Before she could try and piece together the man's reasoning however, the red interface of the cabin flashed once and disappeared, and her eyes snapped up just in time to watch the doors slide open and a slightly dejected-looking Marcus Shepard walk in. He seemed upset about something, and he had been moving to his terminal when he looked up, his eyes instantly locking with Tali's, and ceasing all movement.

She looked at his features, and saw the tortured person behind his eyes. His hair was tossed about and looked to be a mess, and he just looked...tired. Annoyed. Disgruntled. Terrified. Ashamed, even. For what though, she couldn't understand.  _Whatever it is, its kept him up._ She looked at the bedside clock. It was now 0536 hours in the morning. Turning back, she crossed her arms, gave her best stern expression and locked eyes with him once more.

"Where did you go?" She asked, "Its too early to be up and about."

He merely watched her for a few seconds, unflinching and no answer forthcoming from his mouth. She had been about to ask the question again, whilst demanding an answer, but he finally spoke, his voice was dejected as he looked and eyes uncaring. He seemed to mouth the words as he turned away and moved to sit behind his desk on the second level of the cabin, "It's nothing. Just had to do...something. Just had to do something. It doesn't concern you; go back to sleep."

She wasn't convinced, and he knew it; but all he could hope was that she'd give up and just fall back into bed. But she didn't, and it only annoyed him further when she spoke again, this time with her standing up and making her way towards him, ignoring the dual-aching in her belly, "You're not going to wave me off, Marcus. Tell me, please. I need to know why you're up. You know and I know that you're never up at his time of morning unless its absolutely important or we're in an emergency. I don't think we're under attack, so what was so absolutely important that you needed to be up  _0500 in the morning_?"

He tried to ignore her and stared at his terminal, making no move to type into it or even do anything with it. He could feel his wife's eyes boring into the back of his skull, and he knew he'd have to answer her 'demand' eventually. He knew she only worried about him, but sometimes he wished she'd mind her her own business. But he knew he had to tell her. She needed to know. She  _deserved_  to know.  _How do you tell your wife that you need to go on a combat mission...alone? A wife that is so dependent on being by your side to protect you?_

Eventually, he answered, hoping to delay the inevitable, "It was just a call from Admiral Hackett. Like I said, nothing to worry about."

She raised an eyebrow at him, "I don't believe you. Admiral Hackett would call you at 5 in the morning if it wasn't important," she sat down on the desk, just enough within his peripheral vision that he was forced to look at her, and he did. Her arms were still crossed, and she gave a hardened glare, "I am your  _wife._  I trust you with my life, and you've entrusted me with yours. If this is important, I need to know. For both our sakes. And don't tell me its not important. I know it is. You have that look in your eye."

 _She knows me too well._ That actually brought a little smile to his lips, and he shook his head, wiping it away and leaning on the table with his elbows, head in his hands as he shoved his terminal away. He sighed heavily, wiping at the sleepiness in his eyes before looking up, meeting Tali's worried gaze, "You're right. It is important. I just didn't want to tell you until the morning. Hackett...something's happened, and he wants me to fix it up."

"You? Fixing things? You're better off just blowing them up," she laughed, but quickly wiped the smile from her face at the look at solemnity on his features, "Tell me. What did Hackett tell you? What's this mission?  _Where_ is it?"

"In the Viper Nebula," Marcus told her, "The Bahak System. A little hellhole of a planet called Aratoht. I read the codex on it; not a happy place, but I have to go or it could mean...disaster. Cataclysm. It could mean our annihilation."

Her eyes widened at the mention of the Bahak System. Her translator translated that easy enough, "Batarian space, Marcus? You know humans aren't welcome there! The batarians would shoot at us the moment we entered the system! Why in all the ancestors would he order you to go there? To start a war?"

He actually laughed that time, but it was bitter, and full of irony, "I asked him the same question, but no, he only said 'to stop one.' Tali, the Alliance has a black ops battalion working discreetly in the asteroid field of Bahak. He called them 'The Project.' He said...Tali, they're investigating the Reapers. What they found out...we don't have much time. I'm so sorry."

She saw the fear in his eyes, and her eyes suddenly softened, her position weakened and she hit a sudden realization, "What...what is it? What's happening?"

"You mean what will happen?" Marcus shook his head, crossing his arms as he leaned back, looking at her and his eyes never left hers, "Our time is up, that's what. As of Kenson's last update, that's the leader of the group, the Reapers are set to arrive in just seven days through the Alpha Relay."

Her eyes widened and she was off the desk in seconds, " _Seven_ days!? How long until we reach Aratoht, then!?"

"One day, EDI said. We're making best possible speed," he told her, sighing with a noticable shakiness. He knew the time would come when he would have to face the Reapers head on, but he didn't think it'd be so soon, "That leaves us...me, six whole days to save the galaxy from complete decimation. Which is where it gets dicey; Tali, the project leader...Kenson...she's been captured by the batarians and is being held in a prison on Aratoht for terrorism charges. That's the main reason we're going there. Hackett wants me to bail her out...with force and espionage. Then, I'll take her to Project Base and we'll stop the Reapers from arriving. Hopefully. There has to be a way to stop them, I know it."

Tali hadn't even listened to his last sentence, her mind was too busy going through the horror of what she had just learned. Suddenly however, she realized something as Marcus spoke. She turned to him, posture coming a bit more stiff, "Marcus...you keep saying 'me' and 'I.' What are you hiding?"

He sighed heavily, having dreaded his moment the most, "Tali...he wants me to go in alone. No squad, no Normandy. Just me and my guns. And before you ask, no, you can't come with me either."

And open the gates, let the rage of an angry wife spill out in a giant tsunami. She leapt from the table, pointing an accusing finger in the air like existence itself had decreed what must happen on this mission. Her voice was full of fury, like that of an enraged demon, " _What!?_ How dare he...he has no right to tell you who can and won't go with you! Just who does he think he is! He..." she stopped when she saw Marcus' expression, and her fury found another target in all but a few seconds.

"Oh keelah, no..." Tali she came to realize too late the folly of her presumption, "No...you can't be...you can't be seriously considering it? Going in there alone, noone to protect you...away from me? Please tell me you aren't."

"As much as I loathe to admit it, Hackett is right," her husband said, confirming her fear, and it only made her want to break down into a fit; to slap him, shake him about and make him realize how childish those thoughts were. How idiotic, "Stealth is needed for this mission, and I can't be taking in an entire squad to do that. I need to go in alone; only then can I successfully infiltrate that prison without being spotted and sounding the alarms. You, and the rest of the squad, will be staying on the Normandy for this one. Then, I'll bring Kenson back to the ship and we'll all head to Project Base. Sound good?"

She could only look at him incredulously before violently shoving him in the chest, "Are. You. Insane!? Of course it doesn't sound  _good!_ You're going in alone! Into a prison full of people who want you dead! To rescue someone who might or might not be of use to us! What if they do spot you? Will I have to find out my husband has been executed by batarians after he promised to come back to me? To lose you  _again_?" A tear escaped her eye, "How...how can you even contemplate that after the promise you made me..."

He was up on his feet in an instant, wrapping her in a tight hug. She tried to resist, but eventually gave in, throwing her arms around him and clasping them around him tightly, afraid that he may leave her forever. A pitiful sob escaped her throat and she buried her head into his shoulder, "Don't do this. I can't stay up here wondering if you'll ever come back. I need to know you'll be safe. I...keelah, I'm not the only one," she pulled away and took his right hand, placing it gently on her stomach. She looked into his eyes, "What if the serum works? What of our unborn child? Our son or daughter? Will she or he have to be born into a world where the Reapers are wiping out all life and their father, the only hope for all life in the galaxy, is dead, and their mother doesn't know what to do?"

Tali's words moved him, and he felt the pain she was going through, but he couldn't give in. Not this time. Anything else, and Tali might have convinced him. He loved her. God knew he loved her. The crew knew he loved her. The bloody galaxy knew he loved her. And she loved him back, and this is how she showed it. The things they had gone through together would have made others turn away, but Tali hadn't. She had stuck through thick and thin, and their love stayed all the way. They had always fought side by side, but not this time. This was too important. He couldn't risk war between the Hegemony and the Alliance when the Reapers were knocking on their door. Too much was at stake for him to sacrifice all life in the galaxy for his selfish need to be with his wife and keep her happy...too much to risk...

One sentence in the back of his head. Speaking. Taunting him. He recognized it all too well. And the irony of the situation they were placed in.

_You will push those you love away in the name of false safeties._

Was this the Prophecy Harbinger spoke of? Would it lead to...to the Requiem?

 _Its for the best,_ he kept telling himself, but he could never believe it fully.

He stroked her hair with one hand, his other taking her cheek and cupping it, smiling grimly, "I wish I could take you with me, Tali. Damn it, I wish I could. Truth is, you're not making this any easier than I expected it to be. But I need to do this. I need to go in alone. Besides, if I let a few batarians kill me, then how does that make me look? Geth Slayer, Hero of the Citadel, Beater of Saren Arterius, Destroyer of the Collectors, killed by a few prison guards? You think too lowly of me. You underestimate my ability," he added in jest, trying to cheer her up.

It worked. For a bit. She laughed, but she quickly regained composure, looking back at him, "I know you're trying to make me feel better about this, but you failed. I won't stop worrying. Going alone is a bosh'tet's move, and you know it. At least let Garrus or Kasumi come with you..."

"You're missing the point Tali," Marcus scolded, shaking his head, "I can't take  _anyone._ If I could take even one person, you'd be the first person I'd pick in a heartbeat, but that's not the case. This mission is lone wolf. One person. Me. Hackett chose  _me_. I alone must do this. Noone else. I won't allow anyone else to do this. It would be selfish, irresponsible."

"And going down there alone, isn't?" Tali asked incredulously, shaking her head as he moved in and embraced him again, this time much harder, "Can't you see that I don't want you to go down there without backup...?"

_I just want to give in. I just want to hold her and take her with me so we can fight side by side; but now is not her time. I must do this. She needs to be safe; that, and she needs time for the serum to take affect. I must do this alone. Its for the best._

"No. I'm sorry," Marcus stated, sighing heavily, "I promise I'll come back; you'll see. I'll be perfectly fine. No batarian is going to kill me. Besides, its a stealth op. I'll probably be in and out before anyone even knows that Kenson's gone. And if I do need help? Then the Normandy can come and rescue me and Kenson. You shouldn't worry so much."

"I...I have to worry about you. I'm your wife. It's my job," she laughed half-heartedly, shaking her head afterwards, "I just...I understand that you need to do this alone. Please...let me at least put a tracking system in your omni-tool. You know, so I can find you if you...you..."

He smiled at her, taking her hand and kissing the palm of it, "Of course, Tali. And thank you for understanding. I'm sorry it has to be this way, but it has to be. For your sake, mine and Kenson's."

"Okay," she simply replied, meekly surrendering as they both fell into a hushed silence. The cabin was quiet, and all they could hear was the bubbles shooting up from the bottom of the aquarium near by. Finally, Tali gave a big yawn and collapsed forward, burying her face in her husband's chest, "Come on, Marcus. If you're planning on infiltrating a prison all by yourself, you're going to need some sleep first." She reached out her hand, offering it to him.

He had a whole day before they arrived at Aratoht, and he knew he'd have time to review the planet's complete history tomorrow, and he did need the sleep. Giving in, he took the offered hand and let Tali escort him to the bed. Just as they were about to lie on it however, Tali spun around and shoved him onto the mattress, where he then turned over, frowning, "Tali, what are you..."

She landed ontop of him, legs straddling him and hands on his chest as she leaned in, whispering into his ear, "You don't look very tired. We need to fix that," her words were followed by the sound of multiple straps being undone.

It didn't take Marcus long to catch her meaning. He took his shirt off and threw it across the room to the sofa, smiling every step of the way.

He could enjoy these little moments, at least.

**{Loading...}**

_November 16, 2185_

_1009 hours._

_Prison Cell 02, Cell Block B, Aratoht Penitentiary, Aratoht._

_Chief Scientist Amanda Kenson, Warden Fertagh._

The cell stunk of refuse. It was seedy, rundown and cleary hadn't received maintenance in...well, never. The room was small too, with just enough room to ram in a dirty mattress; the walls were made of battered stone and you could practically tell how old it was; cracked and splitting in multiple places. It was cold and wet, and water slipped through the cracks in the ceiling, Aratoht's tropical season in fell affect. She was lucky she didn't live on the planet's other hemisphere; otherwise she might have been boiling to death, instead of playing 'dodge the water drops.'

She sat there, crawled up in a fetal position, her greying hair damp from all the water drops leaking onto her head constantly, her eyes constantly scanning her room. There wasn't even a light; she'd give it to the batarians, they knew how to build prisons. This place hadn't seen maintenance for close to a few decades she'd guess, and the people who ran it had been there equally as long. The door was sealed tight, with only the haptic interface being on the other side to avoid people hacking their way out, and incase they managed to do that, they practically had guards around every corner. She was as secure as could be. She wondered what her team was doing.

Most likely planning her rescue. Or my termination. I'm a high value operative, afterall; can't let the batarians learn anything from me, so I have to be eliminated. Would my team actually do that though? They may have a battalion of well-trained marines, but storming this prison would just give what the batarians what they wanted; a reason for war with Earth and her colonies. No, they wouldn't do that. They'd try to terminate her in a different way. She didn't know how, but she knew it would happen eventually. She just had to wait the Hegemony out until they did.

They'd never find Project Base, that she was sure of. The batarians didn't know where to look, for starters, and it was just too well hidden, especially in an asteroid field as big as Bahak's was. No, the Hegemony fleet would be hard-pressed to find anything but the debris of her destroyed explorer vessel.

She didn't remember much; it had faded out alot. She had woken up to find herself cuffed in the brig of a batarian cruiser, one she learnt was called the BRS Glorious Point, under command of a batarian named Sargesh. The batarian had demanded answers from her, but she had none to give. She couldn't remember. So Sargesh had felt entitled to remind her, and it all came rushing back.  _Remember...why couldn't I remember the destruction of my own ship? My own crew's slaughter? Why couldn't I remember being boarded by batarians of all things?_ She hadn't much time to find the answer to that, because as soon as he pieced it all together, she had been pulled away into a Hegemony kodiak shuttle and taken to the surface, where she was 'handed over' to the the Aratoht Penitentiary.

And here she was. Wasting away in some cell, waiting for interrogation. Or death. Or worse.

She shuffled where she sat, but apart from that, her movement was at the bare minimum. She hadn't been given any food since she had been captured, and no drink was offered. Her throat was raw and dry, and her stomach growled with the need to be filled; none of which could be satisfied. So she simply sat there, unable to control her body's demands, merely waiting for the inevitable. Her death. Her rescue. Which ever came first. Anything was better than this.

 _Reapers. Why does that name keep popping up in my head? What's a Reaper?_ She felt like she almost remembered what it was, but for some reason, everytime she did, a violent and sudden headache would strike her down, and she'd scream and moan for a few moments before it vanished, and she forgot again. It happened constantly, and always with the name Reaper. What was so special about that word? And why does the mere mention of it seem to bring down this foreboding presence down around me?

Something isn't quite right. If only I could remember!

She heard footsteps outside. Loud and echoing with every footfall upon the wet, soggy, cracked stone floor. By the amount of times the sound rung through the walls, she could tell there was more than one person heading down the hall; and she could almost immediately tell who they were coming for.

She almost fled into the corner of the cell, but she refused to do so. She wasn't a coward; sure, she was a scientist, not a warrior or marine. She was unarmed, and those guards were likely to have weapons. Did that scare her? No. Of course it didn't. She couldn't be scared. She stood up, completely fearless against her captors...

...so why did this courage feel so new? So...random?

She heard the footsteps cease, and she heard angry mutterring; yet again, all batarian chatter sounded angry with their deep, croaky voices, so maybe they weren't as angry as she thought.  _They think you're a terrorist._ Yeah, they were definitely angry.

The door shot open, and standing in the frame of the doorway was five batarians all up; one was wearing red and black armor with a skull in the middle of his chest, which was surrounded by circle lined with lettering in batarian. Her translator said it meant 'Warden of Aratoht Prison.' Ah, so he must be the Prison Chief. The four behind him looked to be guards, all of them wearing armor and maskless helmets, all carrying assault rifles and shotguns of some description. Except one; he wore no helmet, and seemed to be holding nothing in his hands at all. He just looked at her with an evaluating glare.

The Warden stood forward into the room, his glare seeming to pierce his helmet and impact Kenson straight in the head. His hands lay lazily at his side, his armor thick and scarred and battered. He moved with an intimidating fervor as he circled Kenson, paying special attention to her reactions. When he was done, he stood inches from her face.

Finally he spoke, his voice cracked and old, "Human...you know why you're here, don't you?"

She barely battered an eyelash as she responded, an insane calm about her, "I know why  _you_ think I'm here. Me? I have no clue. You honestly have the wrong, human."

He fumed, latching a hand around her throat and squeezing tightly, "Don't  _fuck_ with me, filth. I will wipe the floors with you when I'm done, but first Admiral Uhtero wants to get a few answers out of you. Balak would do it himself, but he's currently unavailable, which leaves you with me. You're a  _terrorist._ You tried to blow up  _our_ relay, and you will soon pay the price. But when I'm done with you, you'll beg for a quick death."

She laughed as he loosened her grip, Kenson seemingly insane in the way she treated the situation, and subconsciously, she didn't quite understand her attitude either, "I'm a  _terrorist_? How prude of you! You gave the gall to accuse me of terrorism when all you batarians are good for is slaving and killing and committing  _terrorism._ Or have you forgotten the Blitz, already?"

He spun towards her, fist flying with him as he impacted her in the jaw, sending her flying into the nearby wall, a smear of blood coating the area where her mouth impacted. She got back up, spitting out the loose tooth that had fallen out. Blood bled into her mouth, and it was an unpleasant feeling, but she seemed numb to it as she wiped her mouth and reciprocated the Warden's glare. The batarian spoke once more.

"Watch your tongue human, or I'll make sure your torture is dragged out even longer," he turned to two of his guards and motioned his hands to them, "Move her to interrogation cell 5. Hook her up and our interrogator can have some fun with her." His eyes locked back onto her as the two guards moved forward and grabbed a hold of each of her arms, dragging her out of the cell and down the equally cold stone corridor.

This part of the prison was by far the ugliest; it looked the slums of Khar'Shan, almost. Just like her cell it was smelly, disgusting, and putrid. Water dripped from rotten pipelines and pits of caved in ceiling, and it was overall poorly-maintained. Cells littered the entire cell block, and the many other cell blocks, but most of them were empty; most of their contents either sent to Khar'Shan for execution or trial, or they simply didn't get many. Who wanted to visit the Viper Nebula, anyway? Especially not for criminal activity.

They travelled through the many cell blocks until they eventually reached the more heavily-protected part of the prison; the cargo bay, storage compartments, personnel quarters, the Warden's office, communications, the armoury, and of course, the interrogation cells. She was dragged every inch of the way, jagged pieces of metal or random bits of rubbish poking, scrapping and stabbing at her ankles as she was dragged along, and she was pretty sure she was going to have a lot of injuries and blisters soon.

But they were the least of her concerns. They finally dragged her down a group of stairs and brought her into a small cell; there was two glass observation windows, one in the corridor and another that was one way and more than likely lead into a small office, where the guards could examine whatever horrors the interrogators put on their captives.

The interrogation seat itself was of odd design, but she had been familiarized with it. It was a normal seat with arm and leg rests, along with straps for both, but there was one unique design piece; jutting out of the back and arching menacingly over it hung a long arm appendage that ended in a ring like object; that ring object had numerous needles lining the middle, and two laser units in the middle front. The head was meant to go in the middle of that ring.

They dragged her over it, and she accepted her fate meekly. They sat her down in it, strapping her legs into the chair, followed by her arms. They quickly brought the halo appendage done and around her temple, and she closed her eyes, shifting in the seat before opening them again, meeting the eyes of her interrogator. It was the same man she had seen before; the one without a helmet and without a weapon. He stood there, his arms crossed and a console beside him, which gave him full command of the chair's systems and the pain he could inflict with it.

The warden patted him on the shoulder, smiling, "Tell me when you're done with her. If she breaks, tell me what she says and we'll relay it to command and Sargesh. If she doesn't break, then we'll feed her to the varren pits, no matter. Balak won't find; those animals are getting alittle hungry anyway. Remember, ask her what matters; we need to know who she works for and what she was trying to achieve with blowing up our relay. Pointless questions, I know, but the Hegemony wants to know, so we'll deliver. Have fun," with a final pat on the shoulder, he left the cell, followed by the other four guards, door shutting behind them and leaving the interrogator and Kenson alone. The silence seemed to echo through the room, and it was then that Kenson decided that the room wasn't much different from her cell.

She refused to meet his eyes at first, but she eventually did, and she only saw hate in them. His voice croaked as he made his way over into the console, typing in a few commands. She winced as a split second of heat pierced her head, but it was a split second of agony and she had to bite her lip to stop herself from crying out. He met her eyes, laughing, "That's only a taste of what's to come, human. Tell us what you were planning to do. Why did you try to destroy the Alpha Relay. Answer me human, or we'll go through a new round of pain."

She didn't answer. And the batarian kept his promise.

It continued for hours.

Neverending hours.

But she never gave in. A presence in her head persisted. Eventually, she became more and more numb to the agony in her body, and her head blocked out the batarian's voice. All she could hear was what persisted in her head. It scared. Eventually, she made out a voice.

_Prepare for our arrival._

**"Here we go. The end run."**

**\- Marcus Shepard.**

**"Just get on with it. What happened on Aratoht?"**

**\- Reia'Inas pav Earth.**

**"Its not what happened on Aratoht...its what happened after Aratoht."**

**\- Marcus Shepard.**

_**A/N:** _

_**Shortest chapter ever? Probably. But its only a taste. Chapter 30 I hope to get out soon, and it'll be in two parts; those two parts alone will cover the Arrival DLC in its entirety, I hope. Its going to be one crazy ride. This is where everything hits its climax...for now.** _

_**The Requiem has arrived, my friends. Time to achieve this story's namesake.** _


	31. Requiem, Part 1

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Alone, Shepard infiltrates a batarian prison on Aratoht to extract Doctor Kenson. The situation is more dire than he initially comprehends.

**REQUIEM**

**CHAPTER THIRTY:**

**REQUIEM PART ONE**

_November 17, 2185_

_0833 hours._

_Shuttle Bay, Normandy-Class Stealth Frigate Normandy SR-2, In Orbit over Aratoht, Bahak System._

_Commander Marcus Lee Shepard, Chief Engineer Tali'Shepard vas Normandy, Gunnery Master Garrus Vakarian, Major General Kal'Reegar vas Normandy, First Lieutenant Madi'Soi vas Ceresa, Second Lieutenant Jacob Taylor, Master Thief Kasumi Goto, Justicar Samara, Staff Commander Kaidan Alenko._

The shuttle bay had never looked as daunting. Marcus marched forward and out of the elevator as it stopped and the doors slid open, omitting him entrance. He was fitting on his gloves as he moved forward, the Terminus armor fitting extremely well on him for armor that wasn't built for military manufacturing. He preferred his older Blood Dragon Armor, but obviously that armor couldn't be worn anymore, so he had to make do.

It wasn't long before he arrived beside the remaining kodiak of the frigate, the Normandy still having not gotten a replacement. The fact that the shuttle no longer flew Cerberus colors, as was the same with the Normandy herself, did alleviate that fact, and its new red and black colors would hide it well; if he was lucky, the Hegemony would mistake it for one of their own aircraft. He sighed inside his helmet, placing a hand on it and sliding it along the smooth metal surface, trying to feel the kodiak but unable to. He guessed this is what Tali must have felt like inside the suit.

 _No,_ he chastised himself,  _you musn't think about her. Shove those thoughts away. Focus on the mission. Only on the mission. If you do that, the quicker you can get back to her, safe and sound. Just focus on the task at hand._ He inhaled and then exhaled, pushing himself off of the shuttle hatch as the doors to the elevator opened once more, and he turned to face them, removing his helmet in the process and pinning it under his right arm.

Kaidan was practically the first one to exit, clad in casual clothes and sporting a thin smile. His smile grew upon seeing his commander however, and he nodded curtly in his direction as he approached. Garrus wasn't far behind him, and neither was Jacob, Kal or Madi, for that matter.

"Shepard," Kaidan greeted, still sporting his smile as he came to stand next to Marcus, "I just heard what happened from Tali," his smile quickly dropped as he leaned back against the shuttle next to the spectre, "I can't believe Hackett is making you do this. Its insane."

He shrugged his shoulders, the gesture feeling more like an effort that should have in the armor he was wearing, "It is what it is. All that I care about is that I've been assigned for this task, and I'm going to do my damnest to make sure I get Kenson out. I bet you heard about the Reapers too."

"Damn right I did," Kaidan actually looked scared as he gulped and replied, hesitantly, "Seven days. Or is it six now? I can't believe they're that close. I can practically feel them...looming over us."

Garrus spoke up, his voice full of jest, "If that's the case, could you lean over and poke Harbinger in the eyes for me? His breath stinks," noticing the serious glares being shot at him, Garrus shook his head, meeting their glares in earnest, "I always thought alittle humor helped with situations like this. What's the point of fighting a war if you're damn gloomy and depressed all the time? We knew the Reapers were coming all along; we just got the timing a bit out of wack. Only thing that annoys me about this is the lack of...well,  _me_ down there. And the lack of Tali."

He shook his head, sighing heavily, "I have to do this alone. How many more times do I have to repeat that?"

"When it starts to sound less self-righteous and egotistical," Garrus replied dryly, "Remember what you said at your wedding? What we said to each other?"

Marcus' expression dropped, and he managed to say the words loudly enough for everyone to hear, "There's no Shepard without Vakarian."

Garrus nodded, "You're damn right. And from what I'm hearing, there's going to be a serious lack of Vakarian there, and only half a Shepard."

Marcus winced at that. He knew what Garrus meant by only 'half a Shepard' and it just served to rub his already sore mental bruises, "You act like I  _want_ this. Don't you think I want to bring Tali with me? Don't you think I want to go in, guns blazing, with my Dextro duo? Don't you think I'd rather bring all of you?" he motioned to everyone in the room, along with the fresh lot of people coming down the elevator, "Of course I want to! I'd like nothing better than to bring you all with me! But this isn't the Collector Base! This isn't the Citadel where all we have to worry about is stopping a Reaper from bringing annihilation upon us all and kill a rogue spectre! This is an operation that requires delicacy! It needs stealth. It needs someone with special operations experience and experience in 'no-strings attached' missions," he tapped his chestplate, "That's me."

"That's a load of bullshit. Stealth?" Garrus laughed, pointing at the newly arriving Kasumi, who had just arrived with the rest of the remaining squad, "She's a bloody master thief. The amount of times I've seen her using that cloak just to play pranks on me is just too much for me to right on the little roster I've got going. If anyone should be going with you, its her."

Marcus shook his head, turning to the thief in question, "Broken any prisoners out of prison before? You know, a prison full of murderous guards?"

She gave him a lopsided frown, "I'm a thief. What do you think? I steal trinkets, not people."

He raised an eyebrow at her, nodding before turning back to Garrus, eyebrow still raised, "See? Having a cloaking device doesn't mean your the 'bust person out of jail' person. I haven't broken people out of prison, but at least I have the experience to be able to do so. Besides, Tali's put a tracking device on my omni-tool. If you ever need to find me, you'll know where I am."

Garrus sighed, finally giving and shrugging, the rest of the crew forming up around the shuttle hatch, "Fine. I just hope you know what you're doing. I don't like you going in there alone. Brothers should fight together."

"You won't find any disagreement with me. But if that's the way it has to be, so be it," Marcus lamented, sighing as he pushed himself off the shuttle hatch. The rest of the squad had now formed around him and were waiting for him to speak, and it was then that he noticed the massive gap in their crew. Zaeed, Miranda, Jack, Grunt, Wrex, Liara, Mordin, Lia, Thane and Legion. All of them had left, and he had understood their reasons, and some of them simply had to leave due to injuries. But their absence had made the Normandy feel emptier, and that just made it even sadder. But he couldn't worry about that.  _The mission must always come first._

"As you all know by now, we're here to rescue a scientist named Amanda Kenson. She's being held in a batarian prison on the planet below on terrorism charges," the spectre explained, licking his lips to wet them as he continued, "It's vital I rescue her without starting a war; her living is the only thing that will help us in stopping a Reaper invasion due to occur in just six days. This is code red, and I've been given orders from the highest in the Alliance Navy; so this is serious shit. Which is why I'm going in alone. This mission requires absolute stealth, and for that I need to be able to move in quietly."

He looked around the group, all of them having their own silent objections. Kal and Madi shrugged, with Jacob looking ready to say something, but quickly closing his mouth. Kaidan and Garrus had already heard of course and remained in silence, as did Kasumi, the thief standing at Garrus' side. Samara looked as stone-faced and indifferent as usual, hands clasped behind her back, and she nodded her head at Marcus as his eyes moved past her form, giving him her understanding. Tali of course stood nearby and next to the shuttle, giving him a light smile behind her face, although it was full of reluctance. He gave her his own smile before reluctantly turning away, moving to put his helmet on, "The Normandy will remain in stealth during the remainder of this mission. Once I require pickup, you'll do so and we'll head over to Kenson's base. With luck, we'll stop the Reapers and buy ourselves some extra time."

"I don't know what to say Commander," Jacob spoke up, shaking his head, "All I can say is...good luck. Try not to get killed. And if you ever decide, 'to hell with this lone wolf bullshit,' then just call us. I'm sure Garrus will be ready to load up the Thanix Cannon, and EDI ready to fire it. And Tali will likely have her shotgun in reach, I don't doubt."

He grinned, laughing as the rest of the group did. Tali spoke up once the laughter descended, and everyone faced her, especially Marcus, "And Chiktika; she'll have a few words to say too. I'll also give you a personal reminder to stay safe and try not to cause too many explosions, you crazy bosh'tet. Your obsession is quite unhealthy."

His smile was grim, but it was one of attempted warmth, "I'll keep that in mind. Thank you," he turned to all of them, "All of you. I wish I was going down there with a team, but today is my day. I'll try not to end it on a bloody note."

He turned to the hatch, the pilot opening it as he took the helmet from under his armpit. He was about to put it on when Kasumi's voice rose up from behind him, and he halted his movement, helmet lowering back into his hand as he turned back to face the thief, who had run up to join him. The rest of the squad had looked about to leave, but stopped as all eyes dropped on the master thief. He looked her in the eyes, his face hard and of stone.

"What is it, Kasumi?" He asked.

She nodded and reached into one of her pockets, pulling out a spherical device and slipping it into one of his hands, "My tactical cloak. You'll need it."

His eyes widened and he quickly shook his head, eyes meeting hers, "Kasumi, no. I can't take this. You need this, and I-"

"My pranks can wait," she joked, shaking her head and forcing the hand into his pocket, where she then made him drop it there, "You need it more than me. It'll help with the whole stealth thing. Just...just try not to overclock it. That cloak is one a kind. The only one that doesn't need a recharge. Just...be careful with it, Shep."

He smirked, "Glad the device is your only concern. I'll try not to get blood all over it."

"See that you don't. Remember:  _expensive_ and  _ultra rare_ hardware," she whispered the last bit giggling. She went to say goodbye, but saw Tali in her peripherals and simply nodded at him, "I think a certain quarian wants to speak with you. Good luck, Shep. And try not to get this Kenson gal burnt. And don't give me that look. You can't go one day without causing even one explosion, no matter how small."

He shook his head, grinning as the thief ran off and he turned to Tali, the rest of the squad already leaving, with Jacob giving him a solid salute before doing so. Tali was fiddling with her fingers. His posture slumped at the sight of it, and he wanted nothing better than to hold her. To kiss her cheek. Whisper in her that everything will be alright. But he couldn't promise that. It wasn't a promise he wished to break. So instead he spoke, his voice low and soft, and meant for her ears only, "I'll be fine, I swear it."

She looked up at him, sighing, letting her hands fall to her sides, "I know. I'm just...keelah, I'm just so worried. I can't stop thinking 'what if.' There's so many of them. I know you've got that tracking device, and that cloaking device Kasumi gave you, but I just can't stop..."

"You're not going to offer me Chiktika, are you?" He asked, once again trying to lighten her up.

She tittered, but quickly stopped, meeting his eyes, shaking her head, "No...no I'm here to offer my luck. Its all I can do, really. That, and ask you to please stay safe. You mean too much to me for you to go off and die again. I need to know you'll come back to me."

He cupped her jaw, and made her look back up at him, "I swear to you, by my god, and your ancestors, and whoever the hell else is up there listening, that I will come back to you. I'll stay safe. Hell, I'll wear body armor made of batarian corpses or swim through sewers of shit if that's what it takes."

That got her to smile, and he enjoyed his victory while it lasted, "I'd rather you didn't. I'd have to ask you to take a shower. Or ten. Or twenty, just to be safe."

He laughed, and so did she, and it was a special moment for them to enjoy. They had had their goodbyes, but there was always time for one more. He was coming back afterall, wasn't he? "I love you, Tali. Remember that."

"How could I? You remind me everytime you're there with me, beside me," she retorted, nodding, "I love you too, Marcus. Stay safe. And remember that you'll always be on my mind. I won't stop thinking about you."

"And yours on mine," with a final nod, and a kiss on top of her visor for good measure, he turned back into the shuttle, afraid that looking at her any long would cripple his resolve and cause him to abandon the mission all together...or demand she grab her shotgun and pistol and come with him. He placed his helmet over his head, clicking it into place, and watching Tali's form disappear as the hatch closed behind him, sealing shut as the shuttle's thrusters roared to life and the shuttle lifted from the shuttle bay floor, and the kodiak shot out into space, leaving the Normandy behind him.

And once it had, he entered Commander Shepard mode.

He moved over to a seat across from the hatch and plopped down into it, his armor making a stiff fit but he ignored the itching it caused. He placed his elbows on his knees and leaned forward, examining the bulkhead infront of him as his head lay on his hands, not allowing himself to think as he listened to the hum of the shuttle's engines.

It was a relatively quiet ride down to the planet surface...

...but a lonely one, all the same.

**{Loading...}**

_November 17, 2185_

_0851 hours._

_Southern Entrance, Cell Block A, Aratoht Penitentiary, Aratoht._

_Commander Marcus Lee Shepard._

The first observation Marcus made when he stepped out onto Aratoht's surface was that the planet's orbital view was extremely deceptive. It wasn't boiling hot or covered in lava patterns.

It was pouring down with rain. And he meant  _really_ pouring it down.

The kodiak's take off behind him disturbed him from his thoughts, and he turned around to give the pilot a thumbs up as it shot back up into the atmosphere, leaving him outside the prison's southern entrance. From the atmosphere, the prison itself looked massive, and that was just the part on the ground. What was it like underground?  _That's if it goes underground._ The pitter patter of the rain on his armor began to annoy him, so he moved undercover and crouched behind a discarded cargo container, who's contents were empty and the lid left leaning against it, and he listened to the rain pelting down around him as he unlatched his geth pulse rifle and did a weapons check.

He had brought every weapon he had at his disposal for his mission. His Locust SMG had a suppressor on the end, and so did his geth pulse rifle. His claymore shotgun was for when he broke Kenson out, and had brought a Carnifex pistol just in case Kenson needed a weapon in their escape. He had brought a few flashbang grenades just in case, but didn't want to bring any frags, incendiaries or tech mines incase it caused too much of a ruckus and impeded their escape. And for good measure, he brought enough thermal clips to take down a horde of vorcha. All in all, he was well prepared.

He made sure his HUD was working properly, and made sure his weapons were linked to it so that they accurately displayed his ammo. His motion tracker worked fine, and so did everything else, so he felt fine. His hands moved along his form until he found the tactical cloak and pulled it out.

He looked at the tiny grey device for a few seconds, rotating it around in his palm and examining its smooth chrome finish. He found the activator and a button that made the cloak stick. Hitting the latter, he found a segregation in his chestplate and wedged it inside before linking the controls to his HUD. Once done, he tapped his helmet and watched as a hiss of static was heard, followed by his whole body disappearing in an instant. And just as Kasumi promised, there was none of the usual recharge meter at the stop of his helmet display; just nothing. It would work as long as nothing interfered it. Deactivating it again, he smiled. He would use that for sneaking past guards.  _Thanks, Kasumi. I owe you one after this. Maybe you can shout me and Tali a drink when this is over. Hell, the whole crew. My treat._ He looked forward to it.

With his cloaking device secure, he quickly opened his omni-tool and made sure his tracking beacon was transmitting. Seeing that it was, he changed the settings so only the Normandy could pick it up. That way, the batarians wouldn't detect it unless they deliberately hacked into it and determined the source. Which he doubted, due to the state of the facility he was about to break into, would be very likely.

Pulse Rifle in hand, he positioned the butt against his shoulder, took a deep breath, and then leapt from his cover. Well timed as well, as thunder sounded at that very moment, whiting out the background that he could barely see due to the heavy fog.  _Admiral Grissom labelled this place 'Mount Everest in an oven.' How's that the case when I see rain and fog, and can hear thunder? Either this is not the same planet, or the batarians carry a inclement weather device with them._

Giving the rain a mere glance, he moved over to the main entrance; a single, metal door with a retractable belt along the middle, and a red haptic interface.  _Shit,_ he cursed mentally, lowering his rifle as his eyes looked all over the doorway.  _There has to be a way in, surely._ He searched the area until he found an open control console next to it, an open toolbox left discarded next to it.  _Someone must have been fixing it and A. went on break, or B. had to do something. Either way, he or she will be coming back, so I better make this quick._

He moved over and eyed the console, and saw that it was displaying layers of coding and encryption he couldn't understand.  _Wish Tali, or Legion, or Kasumi were here. Hell, Garrus could probably figure this out! I've always been an idiot when it comes to engineering and...code!_ Eventually, he just winged it.

He took a step back and raised a leg, slamming his foot into the console and hearing it creak and crack, but nothing happened. Annoyed, he simply raised his rifle and fired a short burst into it, covering his face in natural defense against the sparks that shot out from the console and the small explosion. Kasumi's words came back to mind.  _"You can't go one day without causing even one explosion, no matter how small."_  He could imagine the petite thief giggling right now at being correct.  _Laugh it up._

But it had worked. He heard a creak and screech of gears as the belt retracted and the door split to both sides. He waited for a gasp of surprise, or some angry muttering, but nothing came, just the same pitter patter of rain on the roof above him. Whorling around the corner, weapon raised, he saw that noone was insight, and the corridor seemed to end right infront of him. The smell got to him first, and he smelt it even through the helmet; the stench of rotting corpses and the smell of vomit. He could even smell sewerage. The image didn't make it much better; there was blood spatters on the ground, and bits of charred stone and dust lay all over the place, a dim yellow light being the only source of light in the hall. He moved to the middle, and turned left to see a set of bars that blocked off the corridor from the cliffside. He turned to the right, only to see another dead end with two corridors on the left and right leading downwards. He recognized the semi-circle shape of the corridor in an instant, and shook his head.

 _This isn't the southern entrance; this is the bloody sewers. And it looks like it hasn't been in use for quite a long time._ The cracked and stained floor was dry and parched, and the piping above looked to be rusted, worn out and the paint having dried out.  _This place really is dead. Perfect place to send people on death row, I guess. If this is what the sewers look like, what of the actual prison?_

He moved down the right, and eventually came across a hole in the ground, where he heard hungry growling.  _Varren,_ he thought. Batarians seemed to love having them, he noticed. The hole was big enough that he couldn't leap across, but too small to be explosive induced. And his HUD was picking up any ordinance residue.  _Probably more likely that the rotting and rust got to it and it simply caved in. Wouldn't be surprised, the state it's in._ Looking down into the hole, he saw a large puddle of green water, along with two varren, along with what looked to be a bigger and more buff varren. The alpha male, he surmised. With a sigh, he knew he was going to have jump down there to continue. The jump wasn't too high that he'd break his legs, but he didn't like jumping into a pit full of hungry animals.

With a grunt of effort, he braced himself and leapt into the hole, landing on one knee, as the varren acknowledged the sound and turned towards him, but he was faster. In an instant, his omni-blade was alight and slashing through the air, taking the alpha's head with it. Turning to face the other two varren, he saw one leap at him and it soon got a mouthful of energy as well as Marcus' arm went all the way down into its throat. With his blade arm stuck, he unholstered his locust and fired a burst into the other charging varren, downing it instantly. The danger having passed, he finally tore his arm free from the beast's jaws, and deactivated his blade, pushing himself up and onto his feet.

It was then, when he looked down, that he realized he wasn't looking at green water. It was red. And it was full with batarian, human and salarian bodies, all of them mutilated beyond recognition by the bite-sized chunks the varren had taken out of their flesh as they feasted on them. He switched off his olfactory filters, the smell becoming too powerful for him to endure as he turned to his left, seeing a way out of the pit and into what looked to be the Cell Block.

Moving inside, he did so with his pulse rifle equipped, having holstered his SMG. He checked both corners and then moved inside, seeing that the lighting here was much better than in the sewers. The place seemed to made entirely out of stone, as every hallway suggested, and dust lay everywhere, along with more dried blood on the walls. And when he turned to look at the empty cells that were either locked, showing green interfaces, or no interfaces at all, he knew he was in a certain cell block. But which one. Looking up, he saw his answer inscribed along the top of the wall in batarian lettering.  _Cell Block A. They would have taken Kenson to the interrogation cells, so that wouldn't be far, if EDI's map of the area is correct. Just got to find my way there._

So he continued down the empty corridor, seemingly not coming across any guards.  _Probably due to the lack of prisoners to guard,_ he thought,  _prioritized them to more important areas, maybe?_ He continued to move down the corridors, and as he progressed he saw more and more signs of lack of maintenance; fallen pipes, fire leaking from damaged fuel-lines, damaged cells, blown open walls and even rabid varren! This place was as rundown as prisons got.  _Even the quarians could do better than this, and they don't have anywhere near as many resources as the batarians have at their disposal. This is just pathetic._

Eventually, however, he heard voices in a nearby hallway leading up to the surface, and he quickly activated Kasumi's cloak, watching himself disappear in an instant dart off to the side, weapon in hand. Looking up, he saw more batarian inscription, this time informing him that he was heading up to the Main Block.  _Almost there. Just got to keep going._

Finally the voices found him and he watched as the door at the top of the ramp slid open, and two guards came into view, their batarian features hidden by their helmets. They wore the black and red of the Hegemony military, and carried avenger assault rifles in their hands as they moved down the steps. They spoke in angry batarian tones, but his translator picked out the chatter easy enough.

"They wanted to destroy the mass relay," one batarian said to his companion as they reached the bottom, moving down towards Marcus' position as he crouched down and further out of their vision, "Luckily, Captain Trak stopped them. Boarded the ship and captured Kenson herself. They've got her locked up and being interrogated. Serves the bitch right. Remind me to get our dear captain a drink at the end of the week. I'm bound to have some pay coming up."

The other batarian scoffed, unconvinced, "Destroy a mass relay? Can they even do that? I thought the relays were indestructible."

The guard stopped, holding out his arm and stopping his comrade in his tracks...and right infront of Marcus' hiding spot too. He just hoped they didn't see the distorted light behind them. He turned to him, eyes narrowed, "Who gives a fuck if they can do it or not? We caught 'em. That's what matters. Soon, we'll get those reinforcements from Khar'Shan and we'll be able to find where their base is, with or without the bitch."

"Yeah, sure, whatever you say," the other guard responded, and they continued on their way, the last part of their conversation heard as they turned the corner, "What if we don't need Kenson in the end? What then?"

"Whatever you do to terrorists," the guard responded, "I just hope they choose firing squad as the execution. I want to be the one to pull the trigger and watch her blood slide-"

Not staying long enough to hear the rest, Marcus rushed from his position and jogged up the ramp, keeping his breathing to a minimum. He kept his cloak active, not knowing what lay behind the door at the top. When he reached it, he hit the interface and watched it open, weapon raised to appraise any hostiles. Not even checking to see if there were, he rushed outside...

...and was welcomed by the pitter patter of more rain.

 _Great. Outside again._ The open area in the center of the prison was built in a cavern like crevice, with many prefabs and portables littering the area and connecting. They looked interrogation cells and offices, along with what looked to be a firing range, so he guessed he was in the right place. Barricades littered the place, and he saw a gun emplacement fixed to one, the trigger facing his size; obviously for riot control. Moving down the steps, he ignored the rain falling around him and moved to the left, keeping to cover as he deactivated his cloak, seeing it as useless as anyone would be able to notice the fact that rain wasn't falling in a certain spot.

Turning left, he found a ramp leading into a nearby bunker. He rushed up to it, and was about to move up the steps when he heard muttering inside, followed by a loud, "I'll be right back! Just going for a piss. Got to let loose. Keep it on!"

Panicking, he quickly ducked left and slid behind a crate, and once again his timing was perfect, as the loud sound was instantly numbed out by the sound of thunder. Making sure his head was hiding too, he pulled his rifle behind the crate just as the door slid open, and one of the guards came down the steps.

Marcus watched his movement and watched him singing some batarian song as he moved into a corner, unzipping his pants. The batarian looked down and quickly freed his cock as he lined it up with the wall, and shortly after the movement was followed by a sigh of relief and the sound of urine impacting a steel door. With the guard distracted, he came out of cover, activating the cloak once more and moving up the steps, but before he palmed the interface, heard the batarian stop singing and talked, muttering to himself, "Can't wait...to go to war...with the Alliance. Gonna be...extremely...satisfying getting the chance...to serve under...Balak Uhtero...if anyone's going to kill...Shepard and his...quarian whore...it'll...be...him."

A grim smile crossed Marcus' face as he turned back, moving just an inch from the man's ear and he spoke, quietly as his cloak deactivated and he brought up his omni-blade, "Unfortunately, you have me. And you didn't take the chance."

Before he could cry out, Marcus' right hand covered his mouth and his other slowly slid his energy blade into the batarian's back, right where the heart was located. Only a suppressed gasp could be heard and a split-second of resistance, before the batarian went limp. With the guard dead, he picked up his body and rolled it behind a pile of crates, his cock stilling hanging out and the smell of urine constant as it stained his pants in a constant stream.

He moved up to the door and palmed the interface, cloak reactivated and the spectre crossing through the room. As he turned, he saw a large TV screen on the wall was turned on and displaying the new daily Fornax TV series entitled 'Sally Goes From Big-Breasted Journalist to Big-Titted Whore.' The images that popped up made Marcus sick, and he could only roll his eyes as the batarians roared with pleasure at the images, laughter or anger and they drank their alcohol, too busy to even hear or notice the door seemingly opening on its own. They probably wouldn't even notice their friend's absence, but he needed to make sure they didn't alert the Warden. They had to be silenced.

Slowly moving forward, he saw there was a total of four batarians in the room, all of them transfixed on the screen before them; two sat on the sofa, and two stood behind it. With only one idea coming to mind, he moved over to the window controls and silently used one hand to tint them, while the other produced a flashbang. Quickly hitting the button, he gave them no chance to demand answers before tossing the flashbang before them. Turning away, he let it go off and quickly raced forward, wasting no time as he unholstered his SMG and shot both of the standing batarians in the back of the head progressively, and then the two sitting on the sofa. All four eliminated, he reloaded his SMG, holstered it and moved on before anyone could investigate.

He was forced to evade numerous other patrols before finally reaching the other side of the portable-filled area, reaching a door that was carved into the face of the canyon's dead end, and saw the interface was green. Moving across the bridge, he was relieved to see no guards in his line of sight and palmed the interface, moving through the door and down the moderately empty corridor, following the sign that said Interrogation Block.

Moving past another couple of guards, he heard their chatter, and again it was on the same topic, "They wouldn't have succeeded. Mass Relays can't be damaged, much less destroyed."

"Those humans are out to destroy us, I swear," another replied, and Marcus could barely hold in a chuckle at the irony of that statement.  _I wonder why, asshole? Was it before or after you began enslaving everyone of our colonies you came across? I would know; I was there on Elysium. I could show you your ten thousand dead slaver buddies, how's that sound?_ He wanted to kill them, but he ignored them, knowing Kenson was the real objective. He moved further into the facility, hoping to find her.

He came across numerous interrogation cells, all of them empty. Eventually he came across the prison's main hangar bay, and he had to duck behind the fully plated metal railing as the PA system announced a shuttle was arriving. Peaking through the gap inbetween, he watched the two, thick blast doors slide slowly apart, omitting a Hegemony-colored kodiak shuttle to enter and land, the hatch blowing open as a detail of seven, no, twelve guards piled out, escorting four other batarian workers carrying what looked to be heavy shipping containers carrying food and drink. Probably for the guards only, though. Ignoring them, he activated his cloak and snuck through the doors on the left, leaving the hangar bay behind.

As he moved down through the prison, he hacked into the private terminals of some of the cell block chiefs, and heard them talk about Kenson's actions in their interrogations of her. One even said that their interrogations provided nothing, and she only gave them frenzied ramblings and rubbish about 'Reapers' and 'imminent destruction.' That sounded like the woman he was looking for.

He moved further until he eventually found an interrogation cell listed as 'Interrogation Cell 10.' Bracing himself, he raced inside, raising his rifle just in time to find three guards looking up in surprise, none of them baring weapons. They didn't get time to shout out warning though as he put them all down in very quick succession, and turned to assess the layout of the room. It was an observation office, and as he looked he saw a pane of glass seperating him from the interrogation room, where a seat sat. He saw a batarian interrogating an elderly looking human woman, with greying hair and wrinkled features, whilst also wearing a labcoat. He nodded.

 _She fits the description. She has to be Kenson._ He moved forward and towards the door, hitting it and moving to the left and down the corridor leading to another door that lead into the actual interrogation room. Ready, he holstered his rifle and activated his omni-blade once more, hitting the interface as he did.

**{Loading...}**

_November 17, 2185_

_0917 hours._

_Interrogation Cell 10, Interrogation Block, Aratoht Penitentiary, Aratoht._

_Chief Scientist Amanda Kenson, The Interrogator._

Kenson lay there, simply numb as the needles dug into her head, continuing their relentless assault on her brain and loading her full of drugs and anti-painkillers. None of them worked. That influence...the one that refused to name itself...it saved her from it. Made her immune to it. She felt she could fight off anything and it wouldn't be able to even hurt her. He gave her peace. And all she could do was repeat herself, over and over, as the interrogator question after question at her. And during all of this, she could feel the eyes of the observers behind the one-way glass beside her lying on her. Hinging on her every word. Waiting for her to break.

Waiting for something that would never come.

With a sigh, the interrogator repeated his line of question; the same line he'd been repeating over and over for the past day, "I'll ask you again. Where. Is. Your. Base?"

She could play the same repeating game, "You're wasting time! The Reapers are coming! Save yourselves while you still can! Warn the Hegemony!"

The interrogator, still not believing her, decided to play along, but she wasn't a fool. She didn't fall for it, "The Reapers. They're coming here. To  _this_ specific relay. The Alpha Relay."

She nodded, going along with it as well, "Every moment you keep here brings them one step closer. They will kill you all if you aren't ready." But for some reason, she didn't even seem to believe the words that came from her mouth. They came easily, but she didn't believe them. A matter of fact...just saying...it seemed to disgust her. Make her ill.  _Why? If I don't stop the Reapers, we're all doomed. Why does that disgust me? That fact?_ Even her thoughts seemed distasteful. And even more odd, was that the mere mention of the Reapers seemed to fill her with pleasure, and euphoria.  _Why? Just...why?_

The batarian nodded, clearly rolling his eyes as he kept his arms folded upon his chest, "So...you want me to just let you destroy this relay? Weren't you the one to tell us that destroying it would  _destroy this entire system_? What if I told you I had a family on Aratoht? A wife, and ten children? What I told you they mattered more to me than you're so called delusions you name Reapers? To be honest, the pleasure I get from fucking my wife is far more real than the threat you claim to exist. So which will I buy easier?"

She had had enough, "Do what you want to me, batarian. Torturing me won't save you."

"No. But it will amuse me."

Kenson was about to respond to that when she heard the door slide open. The batarian was too busy asking her questions to notice it, the questions she ignored, and she watched as nothing, as it seemed at first, came through. But then she saw something; a distortion of light, one she only just noticed. And a smile creased her features as she saw it arrive behind the interrogator's back. He looked at her, frowning.

"What the hell you smiling about? You think this is funny? Does the death of my family amuse you?"

"No," a male voice sounded behind him, "Just yours."

The distortion evaporated and in its place stood a man of stocky build and wearing, head to toe, full combat armor that she quickly identified as Terminus Armor; it was of turian design, but had been adapted for all races to use, especially humans. He lashed out, the batarian crying out as a omni-blade erupted on the other side of his belly from his back, and he merely looked at the red blood that poured out of his chest before the blade was violently ripped out, and he fell on his knees, blood pooling everywhere. Her rescuer stood over the interrogator's dying body, the batarian moaning in pain, but easily ignored by the soldier. Since he arrived, she finally got a good view of him as he came into her line of sight, removing his helmet.

He was tall, and his face was sharp and handsome; but riddled with battle scars and eyes that had seen death. He wore the face of a professional, but overall, a professional the galaxy knew by face and name; Commander Marcus Shepard.

"Commander Shepard," Kenson greeted, her smile never disappearing, but her thoughts, again, seemed to want to gag in disgust at the mention of his name. That, and a tingle in the back of her brain brought one word to mind.  _Shepard._ It was said in a dark under tone, one that sent a chill up her spine, but she quickly ignored it as he frowned.

"You know me?" He asked.

She chuckled, "How could I not? Commander Shepard, Hero of the Citadel, is a hard face to miss. Especially the man who first presented the Reaper threat. Most of my research was inspired by you."

"I...well, I'm just glad to know  _someone_ other than my family and crew took me seriously," he said, moving around and, with his helmet pinned under one arm, began untying her from the device, "I probably don't need to state the obvious, but I'm hear to-"

"Execute me?" Kenson asked, all seriousness.

He frowned, shaking his head, "Uh, no. Don't know what gave you that impression. No, I'm here to break you out. Hackett informed me of your little predicament and sent me to get you out of here so you can continue helping stop the Reapers."

"Did he now?" Kenson asked queerly, "How courteous of him."

He grunted his agreement as he finished untying her, allowing her to fall forwards onto her hands and knees, finally able to rest. He moved to help her, but she shook her head, holding up a hand to discourage him. She rubbed at her sore wrists and ankles, but finally managed the strength to stand, turning to face him, and trying not to slip in the growing pool of blood on the floor as he did, and she frowned, noticing he was alone, "Where's your crew?"

His smile dropped, shaking his head slightly as he put his helmet back on, clasping it shut, "They...weren't allowed to come. This bail out required stealth, and its hard to do that with a team. So Hackett and I decided that the one-man rescue squad was the way to go."

She laughed, shaking her head. Silence followed, but she quickly managed to meet his eyes behind the helmet as he let his...odd, looking assault rifle fall into his hands, "So...you got an escape plan?"

"Sure do. Snuck in here, figured we could sneak back out," he suggested, motioning to the door, "I can call the Normandy for pickup. Same place as they dropped me off. Just let me-"

He was cut off by a loud whir as a siren was heard, followed by alarms within the room going off. An angry voice, likely the Warden, sounded over the PA system, "All guards, hit the armoury and head for the interrogation block! We have been infiltrated, I repeat, we have been infiltrated! Kenson is free, and is most likely with an armed human infiltrator! Shoot to kill with  _extreme_ prejudice, but do not kill Kenson! We need her alive! Find the human scum and bring the infiltrator's head to me."

She heard Shepard curse, the man shaking his head, "This wasn't how it was planned. I promised. Fuck, I promised." Confused at what he meant, she turned to him, eyebrows raised. He shook his head, turning to her whilst unholstering his pistol, "It doesn't matter now; all that matters is getting the hell out of here," he turned the carnifex around so the grip faced her, and she looked down at it, "You're going to need it. I planned for a stealthy exit, but that's clearly not an option anymore, so you're going to need to be able to defend yourself. Take it; I'm as heavily armed as it is."

She nodded, taking the weapon and making sure the chamber was loaded before nodding to him. Before they reached the door, she heard him mutter, "Just how the hell did they know I was here? They don't have any cameras I can see, and any guards I killed I hid-"

"I did," came the voice of the interrogator, and they both turned to him, bleeding out and slumped in a corner, blood dripping from his mouth as he deactivated his omni-tool, "I hope you both-"

She raised the carnifex and silenced him with a bullet to the head. Shepard nodded to her as he met his gaze, and they both gave affirmative nods, moving into the corridor. One guard spun around the corner, but was quickly dropped by a burst from Marcus' rifle, body tumbling to the floor as the alarms continued their continuous whine, "I'll contact the Normandy for evac," he opened his omni-tool, trying to comm the Normandy, but only getting angry red beeps from his tool, "Damn it! They've blocked all communications to and from the prison. I can't reach them. We'll need another way out. Plus, it'll be hard finding the Normandy because they're in stealth." Then he suddenly stopped, and she had to wheel around and stop herself to notice as she turned behind her, watching his epiphany draw his gaze to her, "Do you have skills in piloting shuttles?"

She snorted, "Of course I do. I'm a scientist. I need to be able to get around."

"Good," he said, moving to join her and then past, rifle in his hands and aimed forward, "Because we're going to go skill a batarian shuttle."

She could only smile as she raised her pistol and followed behind him, liking his thinking...

...if only she didn't have the constant urge to shoot him in the back of the head for no reason.

**{Loading...}**

_November 17, 2185_

_0925 hours._

_Emergency Lockdown Containment and Main Control Center, Officers' Block, Aratoht Penitentiary, Aratoht._

_Commander Marcus Lee Shepard, Chief Scientist Amanda Kenson._

"Come on, you fools! They're in the ELCMCC! Get in there now before they override the lockdown!"

 _Thanks for that, Warden Fertagh,_ Marcus thanked in his head,  _Now we know for sure._ Popping up from cover again, he lowered his rifle down range and opened fire, impacting one guard attempting to charge in the shields and depleting them before he could get back into cover. Quickly, he switched to the target behind him and fired straight into that guard's head, his brain matter meeting the floor quickly as Marcus dived back into cover, reloading his weapon as he looked up and checked on Kenson's status.

The trek to the Emergency Lockdown Containment and Main Control Center hadn't been a long one, but by the amount of guards thrown at them, you'd think it was. They were relatively inexperienced, and just came at them like waves of vorcha, and Marcus and Kenson gunned them down with coordinated precision, allowing them to progress, while they listened to the Warden shout anger filled orders over the PA.

They had tried to reach the hangar bay, but the batarians had locked it down, trying to keep them inside the prison. Kenson had then preceded to hack one of the terminals and find a schematic of the facility, where they then located the ELCMCC and knew that hacking into it would allow them to lift the lockdown in place. And now here they were; Kenson hacking into the mainframe, while Marcus kept her covered.

And they never stopped coming.  _Just how many guards does this prison have? Why would you need this many to guard a prison full of...nothing and noone?_ They came with an assortment of different weapons and tactics too; rocket launchers and assault rifles, poorly made sniper rifles and light shotguns, and a few pistols and SMGs too. Some even wore blue-colored tech armor, for all the good it did them. And Marcus just kept mowing them down, one by one, like he was playing turkey shoot. He remembered Liara's words from their mission in the Shadow Broker's base.

_"If they grouped up and attacked at once, they'd be much more effective!"_

The memory brought him a smile, and he once again jumped up from cover, only to watch as one guard leapt over his cover, shotgun dropping from his hand and tech armor aglow, and barrelled into the spectre, causing him to drop his rifle on the ground as the batarian straddled him and began trying to rip his helmet off.

Seeing that the guard's helmet was off, Marcus quickly launched his head forwards, causing it to snap into the batarian's face. He growled loudly in pain, holding a broken nose, giving the spectre beneath him enough time to then reach up around his head with both hands and violently snapping it. Body limp, he pushed the guard's cadaver off of his body and picked up his rifle just in time to fire a full four bursts into another charging guard, dropping him and giving him time to get back up and reassume his positions, taking down three more guards in the process.

He commed his radio, "Kenson, how much more time do you need?" Gunfire roared over his head, but he ignored it and continued to lay down suppressing fire as he waited for the doctor's response; which wasn't far away.

"Not much longer," the scientist replied, cursing as she did in the background, "Running into a few firewalls, but they only serve to irritate me rather than provide any challenge. I'll be through in roughly five minutes."

"You've got four!" He stood up, steadily falling back and unlatching his claymore, taking aim and firing at a batarian leaping over one of the steel pipes he had been taking cover behind, the claymore shotgun gutting him and blowing his torso's remains backwards and onto the stone. Pumping the chamber for a fresh shell, he turned around and rushed into the small hexagon-shaped bunker that served as the main control center for the entire compound, ignoring the bullets that impacted his shields as he slid inside, taking cover behind a wall. Turning, he could see Kenson working at the center console, her hands dancing across the interface faster than even Tali could match.  _Is it possible she's got my wife beat?_ That provided a little bit of mirth before a bullet impact on the wall he was hiding behind brought him back into the present.

Turning the corner, shotgun raised and fired again, blowing apart another guard, and forcing two more into cover behind a barricade. He noticed that one of the said guards had a missile launcher, and when he eyed the door ahead, he suddenly had an idea.

Holstering his claymore, he pulled out his Locust and charged forth and over the barricade, launching a kick to disbalance one guard, whilst raising his SMG to the rocket trooper's skull and firing. His body slumped backwards, missile launcher sliding from his grip, and Marcus turned around in time for a gunshot to impact and further weaken his barriers before his gauntleted fist impacted the side of the batarian's helmet, stunning him and allowing him to fire his Locust again into the back of his skull. Holstering the weapon, he picked up the missile launcher and rushed forward towards the door at the end of the room, where a fresh squad of guards was amassing.

Taking aim with the launcher, he waited for the squad to be through and the door closed before he fired at what looked to be the retraction belt in the middle of the blast door. The missile launcher hiccuped twice, and two missiles arched towards the belt, impacting with severe enough force that the belt was blown apart on impact, sending the bits flying everywhere. He even had to turn away as part of the shrapnel impacted a guard in the head, the force splitting his head wide open like a melon. The belt, now destroyed, made sure they wouldn't be able to open the door now. Or at least, not for a while.

The impacts on his shields showed he still had other matters to deal with. Seeing that the launcher still had three whole missiles in it, he tossed it before the charging group, and raised his Locust again, taking aim at it and pulling the trigger once before turning away and running back to Kenson's position. All he heard was the chorus of triple explosions that followed as the launcher's contents detonated and killed four of the batarians attempting to advance.

Back inside the bunker, he instead moved over to where Kenson was. Her new carnifex lay on the table infront of her, and lines of code raced by her console. He placed a hand on her shoulder, causing her to turn around, "I've blasted the door closed, but we're not going to have much time. How long until your-"

"-done?" she hit one final button, and he watched as the words 'Override Code Accepted. Lockdown Lifted' came onto the screen in batarian lettering. She gave him a wide-eyed, smug smirk as he picked up her carnifex, slapped in a fresh thermal clip and nodded to him, "That would be right now."

He simply shook his head, and levelled his rifle once more, turning around in time to gun down two guards attempting to get through the doorway, "How do we get to the hangar bay from here? The entrance is no longer an option."

"That shouldn't be a problem. Hangar bay is only one level down, right?" He nodded to her, wandering what she was getting at as they got outside, Kenson herself firing two carnifex shots into yet another approaching guard, gunning him down while Marcus simultaneously suppressed the rest of the converging squad, "Then we'll take the cargo elevators. Just let me bring it up."

A cry of pain, and Marcus turned from the dead batarian, looking at her, before noticing the wide open space before them, and the three empty gaps where elevators were located. Two were filled, but one was missing, and Kenson quickly moved to it, typing into the console to summon it.

The last guard fell, and he made his way over to her, and just in time as the elevator arrived, the large metal platform big enough to fit an entire Mako tank. She moved onto it, typing into her omni-tool to maintain a remote link, whilst motioning him onboard it. He did so, while also reloading his pulse rifle at the same time as the elevator began its short descent.

"I'm guessing you weren't able to lift the jamming frequency the batarians had in place?" Marcus asked, trying to hope.

"Unfortunately not. The Normandy won't be able to pick us up. Not that it matters now. The shuttle is as good as ours. The way you fight, these batarians won't be able to stop us."

He nodded, laughing at the same time, "Yeah, I've fought Blood Pack mercenaries who were more coordinated than this. That should say alot."

"It does indeed," she gave him a quizzical gaze, before stopping as the elevator arrived in the hangar bay; and quite literally as well. Directly above them was the railing he had hid behind on the balcony, and before them was the bay itself; multiple cargo containers littered its deck, and the same shuttle sat infront of the hangar doors, the blast doors themselves hard-locked tight. The hatch on the shuttle was closed, and it looked abandoned; ripe for the taking.

"Oh, one more thing," Kenson began, turning to him as she deactivated her omni-tool and brought his carnifex to bear, "Those blast doors...they are sealed tight and operate under a different lockdown. You'll have to unlock them via...well, force."

He smirked, drawing his pulse rifle once again, "Sounds like my style. You get inside the shuttle and prep it for launch, I'll handle the doors."

Kenson moved forward, but quickly stopped and leapt behind cover as a wall of gunfire impacted the place she had been standing in not too long ago. Obviously, the guards had known they'd be coming here, "Damn it! Batarians have us pinned!"

"Not much longer! Get to the shuttle, I'll keep 'em suppressed! They won't shoot you because they need you! Use that to your advantage!" Marcus shouted, sprinting from her position, and laying down a field of fire. His shields broke, and a bullet wedged itself into his chestplate, but it was nothing compared to what he could have suffered, and now the guards were too pinned to return fire. Again, he heard the Warden's voice from the PA, only this time...he wasn't saying it over the PA.

Looking up, he saw the Warden himself arrive in full battle armor, three escorts in tech armor with him and brandishing a Revenant LMG, shouting orders at his men, "What are you doing!? They're getting away! Get up and kill that fucking pyjak!"

 _Not today,_ he grabbed one of his flashbangs and threw it forward, turning away as it detonated and finding cover, nodding to Kenson as she opened the shuttle's hatch and got inside, sealing it behind her. With the guards sufficiently disoriented, he raised his rifle once more and fired, taking down two of them with two bursts, and another's kneecap apart, causing him to howl in pain and fall to the ground as Marcus fell back behind the crate, the batarians regathering their wits and suppressing him once more.

He looked over at the blast doors and knew he had to get them open; he could see the power conduits for them from his position. He just had to reach them. With an exhale of breath, he collapsed his rifle, holstered it, pulled out his SMG and then summoned his omni-shield. Turning it to face the enemy, he rushed forward, and their fire slammed into the field of energy. He winced from the impact, but managed to avoid it long enough to disappear from their line of sight, allowing him to reach the first conduit and firing three bursts into it, causing it to explode and half of the door to slide open. Turning to the second conduit, he did the same and the blast door full opened, and as Aratoht's landscape greeted them, its thunder roared. It was still pelting it down with rain outside.  _Does it ever stop?_

Shaking those thoughts away, he holstered his SMG and kept his omni-shield up, listening as the shuttle came to life and he opened the hatch, leaping into the dark interior and closing it behind him. He felt the shuttle lift up beneath them, and he moved into the cockpit, opening the door and steeping inside as his shield evaporated and he took off his helmet, throwing it aside, turning to Kenson at the controls, "Get us out of here!"

She shook her head, not even turning to face him, "Not yet. Got one more thing I want to do."

"What!? Kenson, we need to-"

He felt the shuttle lurch to the left extremely fast and almost fell backwards as it hit the wall with high force, but among the sound of metal impacting metal, he thought he heard multiple screams along with flesh and bone blowing apart. Kenson merely smiled, pulling the shuttle way and then quickly shooting through the hangar bay door, speeding towards Aratoht's atmosphere. The batarians could not, and did not, give chase.

He sighed, falling into one of the cockpit's seats and looking at her incredulously, "What the hell did you just do, Kenson?"

She looked at him, grin still on her face as she offered his carnifex back to him, grip first like he had handed it to her, "Got some payback. Here."

He took the weapon, holstering it before asking again, "Kenson? How did you get payback? I heard a scream."

"That would have been Warden Fertagh as he was crushed between the wall of the hangar and our shuttle," Kenson replied, her smile dropping, "That SOB let me rot, so I thought I'd return the favor. Except this time it'll be his corpse that rots."

He shook his head, "You could have at least told me before you did it, but I understand," he picked up his helmet, placing it on the console infront of him, before remembering, opening his omni-tool, "We'll be out of jamming range now. We should call the Normandy for-"

She held up her hand, eyes widening as she did, and she grasped his wrist, pushing it down, "No, you must not contact the Normandy. They must not know where we are."

He looked at her incredulously, pulling his arm away from her grip, "What? They need to know where we are going! My team can help."

"Your team will only get in the way, I'm afraid," Kenson retorted, patting his shoulder, "Remember what you said about doing this alone? You may have broken me free of prison, but what happens when the batarians track the Normandy to Project Base?"

"How? They're in stealth mode. Nothing can pick them up in stealth mode," Marcus replied, unsure of what she was on about.  _I made a promise. A quick snatch and grab, and I'd be back in Tali's arms. I fucking promised, for godsake. Am I an oathbreaker, now?_

"Are we willing to take the risk?" Kenson asked of him, "What if the batarians do? We need to look at all variables here. The batarians won't bother tracking one of their own shuttles, but if they do pick up the Normandy...they will track her back to Project Base. I promise you that. And then we'll lose everything. Besides, you don't need you squad for a simple escort, do you? I'm telling you now, there are now batarians on the Base."

He pondered her words, finding them hard to swallow.  _Remember, you have a tracking device on your omni-tool. If Tali gets worried or you need help, she can simply follow the beacon. Problem solved. But...damn it, I promised. Don't...damn it! There has to be a way to...yes!_

"Why don't I just inform the Normandy that I'll be over there for a few hours?" Marcus told her, "I can't leave them thinking I'm dead or something."

"Yes...very well then," Kenson accepted, nodding her head, "You may do that. But it won't be for a few hours. This may well take several days. My absence has caused severe delays in our plans, and I'll need to be brought back up to speed."

"Days? Shit," Marcus responded, scratching his chin. Eventually, he gave in, sending the message to Joker on his omni-tool before shutting it down, "Fine. There, I've sent the message. Anyway, are we on our way there? Because I have a few questions to ask."

She nodded, hitting a button on the console, "I've input the coordinates, and we're now on our way to Project Base. We'll be there in just under two hours," she swivelled in the chair to face him, hands gripping her knees, "So...ask away. What do you wish to know?"

He snorted.  _Where do I start?_

Then he remembered what the batarians had been talking about.

"The rumors," he began, clearing his throat, "Are they true? Do you plan to destroy the Alpha Relay?"

"Yes. Although its only about half the story," Kenson replied, hands gripping her head as she leaned on her knees, "We came here on a mission to find a way to stop the Reapers, no matter the cost. And now we are certain; the Reapers will arrive in six days, in this system, using a relay outside our galaxy linking to the Alpha Relay. Using it, they'll be able to invade anywhere in the galaxy in just a matter of minutes. Hours."

"How did you learn of this?" Marcus asked, amazed by the information she knew.

"Well, mostly through Reaper artefacts we found in multiple systems. Don't worry, we listened to your warnings and destroyed them after using them. They all lead to this system," she explained, "It was here we found Object Rho. It was found on the same asteroid we use as the location for our base, now. Its a colossal Reaper artefact. It proved what we'd seen; the Arrival is imminent, and the Reapers will be here within the week."

He raised an eyebrow at her, coming to an understanding, "So you decided that the only way to stop the Reapers from arriving was to destroy the relay? Cut them off?"

She nodded, "Exactly. Doing that would halt the Reapers' invasion, but not stop it. Even at FTL speeds, it would take them months...maybe even years to reach this galaxy without it. They will eventually reach it, but the time we will get will be ripe."

She met his eyes, and this time she leaned back in her seat, as if teaching a history lesson to school children, "We named ourselves The Project. It took us some time, but we've decided that conventional weaponry won't be anywhere near powerful enough to destroy the relay, or even dent it."

"What about a nuclear warhead?" he suggested.

"No. That wouldn't do anything either except cloud the relay in radiation. Nothing can harm the relay conventionally. But there is something that can harm it. Something massive, and travelling towards it at high speed; FTL speed, if you'd like. The sheer force and speed of which it impacts would be enough to crack and cripple the relay, and obliterate it. That's why we have built Project Base on the largest asteroid we could find; using fusion torches, we will fire it straight into the relay, escape through it, and the asteroid will be enough to blow it up."

Fusion Torches. Asteroid. Memories of Terra Nova from two years ago popped up in his head, but he quickly shook them away. He looked at her, gulping down the lump in his throat as he asked the next question, "And...what the interrogator...what he said...was it...was it true? Destroying a mass relay could possibly...well, destroy this  _entire system_?"

She seemed entirely unfazed by the prospect, "Yes. Everything will be completely vaporized in the resulting explosion of energy from the mass relay detonating. The sun, Aratoht, everything. It will all cease to exist; blown into atoms."

His eyes widened in horror, "Aratoht...I know they're batarians, but...there are three hundred thousand people down there! You can't honestly tell me you'll murder them all without battering an eyelash?"  _All of them. Men. Women. Even children. All of them killed in an explosion they'll never see coming..._

"You think we didn't try to find another way? We tried. God knows we did. But there isn't. We ran the numbers, and I'm still having trouble getting it through my head. That we'll murder hundreds of thousands of innocent people. Doom them all to die," Kenson sighed heavily, closing her eyes and then reopening them, "We have no choice. The Reapers must be stopped. If three hundred thousand must die so that trillions may live, that's a choice we have to make. Its a choice we all eventually have to make in war. Besides, at least it'll be a quick death. They won't feel a thing. It'll be over in seconds. Their pain will not linger, that I promise you."

_Its not the pain I worry about. Its the cold-blooded murder of three hundred thousand. I was supposed to be fighting shit like this, yet now I'm about to help it occur._

_You have no choice, though. The Reapers are coming, and they will wipe all life in the galaxy out if you don't stop them now. Humans. Quarians. Turians. Salarians. Asari. Elcor. Volus. The names just pour on. All of them will die. Would you rather have the blood of three hundred thousand on your hands, or would you rather die with the blood of trillions staining your corpse?_

He knew the answer before he even asked himself. He had known it since Kenson told him. It just took time to comprehend it; it always did for a man like him.

He sighed, "I just hope their deaths are made worth it. This'll undoubtedly haunt me for years to come."  _Not even Tali will be able to help with those nightmares._

She nodded, ableit resigningly, "As it will me."

**"And here it is. The final stretch."**

**\- Tali'Shepard pav Rannoch.**

**"You keep saying that, but what do you mean? What's the Bahak Incident?"**

**\- Reia'Inas pav Earth.**

**"Mass murder, that's what. Three Hundred Thousand."**

**\- Marcus Shepard.**

_**A/N:** _

_**Came sooner than you thought? The feeling is mutual. I didn't expect to finish such a large chapter so quickly. You can see why this is in two parts now. Oh well, guess I'll see you guys next chapter! Part Two should be coming soon, I hope!** _

_**Keelah Se'lai! And god help Marcus...** _


	32. Requiem, Part 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> With the Reapers' arrival imminent, Shepard is forced to make a sacrifice so great that it'll cost him a piece of himself. Tali rallies the crew to rescue Shepard.

**REQUIEM**

**CHAPTER THIRTY:**

**REQUIEM PART TWO**

_November 17, 2185_

_1137 hours._

_Shuttle Dock A1, Project Base, Project Asteroid, Bahak System, Viper Nebula._

_Commander Marcus Lee Shepard, Chief Scientist Amanda Kenson._

The hatch slid open, and two large blast doors slid apart, omitting the captured batarian shuttle entrance. At that point Marcus was already standing up, his hand gripping his helmet firmly as he followed Kenson out of the cockpit and into the main cabin, both of them waiting at the hatch for when they land. Kenson crossed her arms, eying the door with an impatience that warranted his look.  _Yet again, we are on the brink of a Reaper attack. I'd be impatient too._

He felt the shuttle land and the hatch shoot open, giving him a full view of what lay outside. An hour spent in the Aratoht Prison and he had gotten used to seeing worn-down structures, caved-in corridors and rotted metal, but in the base, everything was prestine clean and looked after, in comparison. The walls were a sterile white in color, with bright light illuminating everything. Numerous cargo containers littered the bay, and as he looked up, he easily recognized the familiar dark blue 'A', picture of Earth in the middle and everything, that served as the insignia for the Systems Alliance. And directly below it, shown holographically, was what seemed to be a...countdown?

"Welcome to Project Base," Kenson waved her arms around, smiling, as if showing off a prized animal, "Our base of operations for the duration of this crisis, and as hidden as hidden can be."

Ignoring the welcome, he pointed at the holographic countdown timer, frowning at her as he did, "What's this? A countdown?"

She nodded, looking at it grimly and seeming to gulp as she looked at it, "That's our countdown to the Arrival. When it hits zero..." her eyes met Marcus' in an instant and she gulped once more, clearing her throat, "The Reapers will have come."

He looked at the timer again. "We have six days until Arrival. Puts things into perspective, doesn't it?"  _Three Hundred Thousand will die so trillions may live. I will sentence all of them to die. To murder all of them, and in the name of the greater good. Who am I to decide that? Who am I to play god with the lives of thousands? What, will I justify it by calling it revenge for Elysium? For Mindoir? Is that how low I'm willing to stoop? To kill innocent people who had nothing to do with those raids in the name of-_

"Commander?" Kenson pondered, and he was shaken from his thoughts, turning towards the scientist, who now eyed him with confusion.

"I'm sorry, what?" he asked again, clearing his head, "Sorry, I was trying to wrap my head around the sheer statistics. So many people are going to die, and there's nothing we can do to save them."

"Indeed," Kenson said again, seemingly unfazed again, "But it's for the best. Nothing can be done to help them, and they would only be victims to the Reapers when they arrived. You should consider this a mercy killing."

He snorted.  _I would if I could. If only I could fool myself so easily._ He turned back to her, eying the countdown, before turning back to her, helmet now pinned under his arm as before, "Just how do you know this is an accurate countdown? It's not like the Reapers are telling you how long you have to live, so you must have gotten this from somewhere."

"It's accurate, I assure you. Down to the last millisecond," she informed him, nodding at the countdown as she folded her arms under her breasts, "Object Rho has been giving off pulses at a steady interval, every single one increasing in speed, although very slowly, per minute. Measuring the pulses, we have discovered that it is reacting to the Reapers' proximity. When the Reapers are one minute from arrival, the artefact will constantly pulse, and when they arrive, it will send out a pulse that acts as an EMP. Then you'll know that they have arrived. You've used the pulses to calculate the timeframe. It is extremely exact, have no worry."

"Oh, I'm worried," Marcus told her, standing straighter, and motioning to the door, "Just not worried about that. But by the amount of times you've mentioned this Object Rho to me over the past two hours, it seems important and crucial to your discovery. Do you mind showing me? I'd like to have some proof before I go off and butcher thousands," he said the last with contempt, still having not warmed to the idea.  _I never will. If I were Marcus Shepard, I would have not even gotten this far. But I'm not; I'm Commander Shepard, and he must never falter._

She nodded, noticing the contempt he had in his voice, but ignoring it as she began moving towards the door that exits the bay, "Of course. If you'll follow me, I'll take you to it. We're holding it in our central lab area. And yes, we know about the effects of indoctrination. We've got it well contained, I assure you. And if anyone had even begun to act odd, we'd have them locked up in an instant and being checked. We run a tight place here; nothing gets buy us without me or the senior staff knowing. And if any merc groups or batarians come sniffing around, we've got a battalion of alliance marines to keep us safe and provide security," Kenson smiled as they reached the door, "Hackett made sure we were well-equipped."

He nodded, turning back to the door. It, like the walls, seemed to be a bright white, with a single rotating circle ontop of it, on the right side, green haptic interface aglow in the middle. Kenson immediately tapped it, and it spread open, the door instead not splitting, but simply the whole piece of bulkhead slid off to the right side with a metallic grind. Kenson moved inside, Marcus not far behind as two marines wielding shotguns and wearing black armor stood to attention and saluted. Marcus returned the salute, his expression cold, "At ease soldiers," the soldiers in question nodded their understanding, and returned into guard position, whilst Marcus moved down the left and through a large corridor, filled with more of the pristine white color he'd seen back in the bay.

The walk through the base was long, but uneventful. They passed through relaxation areas with views of the asteroid around them, along with what looked to be the Alpha Relay itself in the background, and numerous other corridors that linked the prefabs and portables together. What was odd to Marcus was the sheer lack of any scientists; everyone he came across, save Kenson, seemed to be a marine, and were carrying weapons, or seemed to be checking them. He even felt their eyes watching him as he walked by, as if evaluating his every move. He couldn't shake the feeling that something wasn't quite right.

Nevertheless, he managed to ignore those irrational feelings as he spoke up, speaking to Kenson as they passed through another door on their way to the lab and Object Rho, "How long would it take to get the fusion torches back up and running and this asteroid headed for the relay?"

Kenson snorted, barely saving him a glance as he explained what they had done to prepare, "Everything was almost ready when I was captured. It wasn't a question of 'could we', but 'should we.' But now we definitely know that there are no questions. We shall do so, for it could mean the extinction of all life as we know it. We cannot allow the Reapers their victory."

"Couldn't agree more doctor," he responded, "Lead the way."  _I can't believe I'm going through with this. The real Shepard would look for other solutions, and not go straight into mass-murder. Into...into genocide._

_What other options are there? Unless you plan on sacrificing the Council to the 'gods', you might as well go ahead with it. You have no other choice, and no other options are provided. This is the final solution. By the galaxy more time, that's all you can do._

And yet it still made him sick to the core. Murder was murder, no matter how much you justified it.  _I will not become like the Illusive Man...I won't..._

They continued until they reached a small elevator, both of them entering it and Kenson typing into the console. The lift descended, and silence fell on both of them. No words needed; they knew what had to be done. It was just getting the job done that was needed now. He squared his shoulders, stretching the muscles as his helmet began to press into his side, the discomfort annoying him, but he ignored it. There was more important things to worry about than a pain in his side.

Finally, the elevator arrived at the bottom and the door was already sliding open by the time they arrived. It opened to reveal a long corridor with a door to the lift, with the words 'Central Lab' etched into the top bulkhead above it. More marines stood around, and their eyes seemed to lock on Marcus almost immediately as he exited. Kenson moved past them, ignoring them as if they didn't exist and began to talk to a marine named Williams, while Marcus awkwardly stood behind her and waiting, feeling their marines on the back of his skull. It began to seriously creep him out.  _Why are they looking at me like that? I don't understand. Why do I feel like I'm surrounded by enemies? Something is seriously wrong, but I don't know what it is, for godsake._

Finally, Kenson finished speaking to the soldier, and he stood aside, tapping the interface and opening the door for them, allowing both to step inside. Kenson turned to him, moving to the side as she stretched out an arm into the room in greeting, "You first, Commander. I would like to introduce to you...Object Rho."

He nodded hesitantly at her, glad for a reason to just get away from the marines surrounding him. He moved past Williams and Kenson, stepping inside the massive lab, and Kenson wasn't far behind, the door closing behind both of them as they entered.

The lab itself was huge in sheer size. Observation windows aligned the entire room, giving them a clear view of not only the asteroid itself, but the space beyond it, the asteroid belt, and of course the intense blue glow of the system's mass relay was hard to miss. Directly above them, on the second level of the lab and on the other side was a office overlooking the main floor, and directly and the other side had a door similiar to theirs serving as another entrance or exit. But it was what was in the middle that caught his attention.

Sitting directly in the middle of the lab, and looming over all of them, was Object Rho. It was contained inside a ring of metal railings, and numerous consoles and scanners surrounded it, but once again, no scientists seemed to be present.  _Just where the hell is everyone? This base isn't run by just marines and Kenson. Where all the scientists? The expeditionaries?_ Once again, this felt wrong. And the artefact only proved his point.

Object Rho was definitely Reaper in architecture, that much was plain to see. It was basically just six to eight, metal arms; an alloy the same as that found on a Reaper's hull and of the same dull grey/red color, stretching out from a tiny center mass, only to reform in the middle at the top, and in the core of the artefact looked to be a constant crackle of dark energy, blue wisps of flame dancing inside. And just as he took a step towards it, a blue pulse shot outwards from it, confirming Kenson's theory. But that wasn't what enraged him. What confused him. What had him worried.

It was the fact that the artefact was wide out in the open. No containment at all. Open for everyone to see and its influence to touch all.

He felt a presence behind him, and he slowly turned to face Kenson, who seemed to be blankly looking at the artefact, and a familiar chill went up his spine. "Kenson...I...you have the artefact just sitting here..." he added with a dark tone, eyes forrowed with anger and confusion alike as he looked at her, "Right out in the open?"

Kenson didn't seem to answer his question, she just moved up and touched it, hand sliding across its smooth chrome surface, as if in awe of the object, "When we found it, it showed me a vision of the Reapers' Arrival. Go ahead, touch it. See for yourself."

He took a step back, keeping his eyes fixed on Kenson, who looked to be in a dream, "Kenson...this is wrong. This is completely wrong. You need to have that thing sealed up and contained... _now._ "

She merely looked at him, snorting and waving a dismissive hand as she turned back to it, "Just give it a moment, Shepard. It'll give you all the proof you need. Come, touch it."

He knew he shouldn't, but he felt something in the back of his skull compelling him to move forward, to close the distance between himself and the object. Before he knew what had happened, he stood as close to it as Kenson did, and he felt the heat eminating from it penetrating his armor. He reached out his hand and touched the object, and within a moment, his eyes closed as a familiar pain entered his mind. A pain he recognized from two years ago.

It was the pain of a vision penetrating his pain, but this one was darker. It wasn't Prothean. It was far more horrifying.

He saw the darkness, followed by Harbinger's ominous and cold yellow eyes looking into his soul,  _ **"Shepard. Our Arrival is near. Your time has come."**_ He screamed at the Reaper to get out of his head, and he saw other Reapers, ones who's names came to him surprisingly easy; Oblivion. Vanguard. Foehammer. Primal. Desolation. Pacemaker. They all raced into his mind, and he could not propel the onslaught. And as he watched on, he saw Harbinger, surrounded by Reapers of many different shapes and forms, all race towards a mass relay.

The Alpha Relay.

And just like that, the vision ended, Marcus opening his eyes to find the world to be a fuzzy haze. His helmet fell from under his arm, clattering to the floor as he disgruntedly fell backwards, before falling forwards on his knees, looking at the ground and shaking his head to clear his vision desperately.  _My god...Kenson was right, but the artefact...if Harbinger is speaking through the artefact, that means...!_

He felt a hand on his hip, but he was too weak to stop it. The hand drew his Carnifex pistol, and before he knew it, the sound of a weapon extending was heard right behind him. Finally regaining some of his orientation, he turned and the world returned into focus, and the sight he saw should have shocked him, but it didn't.

Standing there, Carnifex aimed at the back of his head, was Kenson, her eyebrows furrowed in frustration and desperation, and he could see the sweat working on her brow. She spoke, this time like she was in a normal state, yet fully under Harbinger's control, "I can't let you activate those fusion torches, Shepard. I can't let you stop the Arrival."

 _I should have known she was indoctrinated from the get go. The way she acted, the way she talked about murdering thousands without even being fazed, the way she typed into that terminal at such a fast speed...only a host under Reaper control could do that. Damn it, why couldn't I see this coming?_ The marines' glances at him suddenly made sense now, and a forboding realization hit him.  _I'm in a base with a full battalion of indoctrinated alliance marines. Fuck._

He looked at her, meeting her eyes within an instant. He watched as the door they came through opened, a squad of marines lead by Williams walking in, their weapons aimed straight at Marcus. It dawned on him just what Kenson and the marine had been talking about at the door.  _This was all a trap. She lured me here. I need to get out of here and activate the torches. But how?_

He turned to Kenson, who had her back turned, facing Williams, words flowing from her mouth, but he didn't recognize them; for he ignored them, trying to think of a way out of this as he looked down the barrel of his own pistol.  _Wait...she doesn't know I'm a biotic. I didn't use them in the prison..._

Suddenly, he leapt up, grabbing Kenson's hand and violently twisting it to the left. Kenson let out of a screech of pain as the bone in her wrist snapped, and the carnifex fell from her grip and clattered uselessly on the ground. She quickly leapt behind her squad of marines, Williams ordering the squad to open fire on him. Marcus, having now got the upperhand, unholstered his SMG with one hand and used the other to form a biotic barrier around himself, the marines' bullets pelting harmlessly off his field. He heard Kenson shouting orders at them, and she looked angry at Williams. The soldier nodded, having reached an understanding, and then turned back to Marcus, nodding with a smirk.

Marcus frowned and was about to drop his field and open fire on the marines when a gunshot from behind sent the Locust flying from his grip and into the waiting hands of one of the indoctrinated troopers on the other side. He turned to deal with the marines now flanking him from behind, but wasn't fast enough as another blow, this time with the butt of a weapon to the back of his head, sent him reeling back onto his knees, disoriented. Kenson slowly moved forward, cradling her snapped wrist, but seemingly unfazed by the pain. She came to stand before him, looking down at him as if in pity.

Two men grabbed his arms and tried to subdue him, but he wasn't done resisting. Summoning all the strength he could, he tried to bring his cybernetics and biotics to bear but only roared in agony as he was hit with a biotic dampener, causing his biotics to dampen and disappear, and for him to bite down on his lip in sheer pain. He continued to struggle, but his cybernetics weren't enough.

Kenson kneeled before him, and he moved to turn away, but his eyes suddenly shot back to her own, eyes widening in horror.

They weren't her eyes anymore. Now they glowed a bright yellow; Harbinger.

_**"Do not resist. Give yourself over and be spared."** _

He ignored the words that left her mouth, but weren't of her mind. The words that seemed to penetrate his skull, and echo throughout his mind. He continued to struggle, while two men tied his hands behind his back, trying to keep him pinned. Marcus shot his head backwards, managing to impact the head of one marine and send him staggering backwards with a yelp, and through that he continued to resist against his captors. Again, Harbinger's voice spoke, never forgiving.

_**"You're galaxy is in sight. Your end is at hand."** _

"NOOOOO!" he yelled with pure anger and ferocity, desperately trying to break free, "I WILL NOT LET THAT HAPPEN!" he continued to wreathe against his restrainers, but they were able to put omni-cuffs around his wrists, putting his hands to rest. He soon felt hands on his back, and within seconds they had taken his pulse rifle from his back, removing it completely and handing it over to Williams, who examined the weapon with impression. He collapsed it on his back, giving Marcus a smug grin.

"Ma'am, this guy is really strong!" one of the marines behind him complained, obviously winded, "I don't know if we can restrain him for very long."

"Bring me the sedative. In a needle, if you please," Kenson said in her normal tone, but the eyes never wandered, and when she turned back around, her mouth moved once more, Harbinger's voice flowing out from her lips.

_**"The end of your species will come."** _

"No," he growled under his breath, desperately trying to squeeze free of the cuffs he was now in, "I can stop you! I  _will_ stop me! You can kill me, but my crew will never stop fighting you! It is  _your_ end that is at hand!"

Kenson simply shook her head,  _ **"Struggle if you wish. Your mind will be mine."**_

He spat in Kenson's face, the indoctrinated husk of her former self seeming barely fazed by the gesture, "Go fuck yourself. My struggle has just begun. And I'd rather die than become your slave. So go ahead, kill me if you wish. Your corpse will be my last wish, Harbinger. You'll be joining Sovereign before this war is over."

 _ **"You will be the first to witness our Arrival."**_ It was as if the Reaper was simply ignoring retorts, taking them for the words of desperation that they were, and with that, no more taunts came from Kenson's mouth. Instead, Marcus was forced to watch as the marine from before arrived, handing Kenson what looked to be a syringe. She shook it, flicking her fingers against the tip to test its potency, before turning to him, reaching over to him!

 _NO-_ but it was too late. All he felt was the needle penetrating his skin, and a second later, being pulled out as its contents spilled into his veins. The effects would take a bit, but for the duration he was still awake, he met Kenson's gaze, managing to mouth what he wanted to say as his mouth started to become numb, "Kenson...please...fight...it. We must...stop the Arrival...before its too late..."

Kenson merely shook her head, nodding to the marines behind him to release him. They did so, and he wanted to get up and sprint away as fast as he could...instead he fell to his side like a rock, the side of his head hitting the cold steel floor as numbness over took his body, and he felt himself going sleepy. He felt Kenson looming over him, and his drooping eyes turned in time to watch her a she crouched beside him, along with her marines. She turned to Williams, speaking in her normal voice.

"Take Shepard to the med bay and lock him up," she said, although her voice was getting distorted due to the drug taking hold, "We want him alive..."

He didn't hear anything else...only the silence as his eyes fell and his body betrayed him, entering a deep sleep. His last thoughts before falling unconscious were of Tali. How he had let her down. How he had broken his promise. How he had doomed her to death, and he wouldn't even be there to die with her.

_I'm so sorry, sweetheart. I should have been there. I love you. I love you. I love you._

And like a curse, those three words repeated throughout his head like a constant nightmare, never stopping, never relenting. It would be the longest sleep in his life.

**{Loading...}**

_November 22, 2185_

_1101 hours._

_Flight Deck, Normandy-Class Stealth Frigate Normandy SR-2, In Orbit over Aratoht, Bahak System._

_Chief Engineer Tali'Shepard vas Normandy._

It had been six days now, and the Reapers' arrival was imminent. The whole crew knew it. They knew that at midday today, if that relay wasn't destroyed, the Reapers would arrive and all life in the galaxy would end as they knew it. They were all prepared. It had been why Marcus rescuing Kenson down on Aratoht had been so pivotal to their mission success; why she had allowed him to go in alone. She had seen the necessity of it.

But now six days had past, six days of her pacing the cabin in growing worry, sometimes not even getting any sleep. Even work in engineering hadn't been enough to keep her distracted. That was because there hadn't been a single communication from Marcus or Kenson. Not even a message to tell them he was okay. Just nothing. And she was starting to get worried.  _Keelah, what if the batarians got him and Kenson is dead and he's been captured? Oh please no..._ She shook that thought from her head quickly enough, not wanting to even entertain it. As it was now, she was on a mission of her own; to find answers.

She quickly and quietly approached the cockpit, marching up the flight deck while rows of onlookers watched on, not wanting to get in her way. She was angry, furious and worried; not a good combination for a shotgun-toting, combat drone-obssessed, killer combat engineer who just happened to be the Commander's wife. When it came to his safety, she was prepared to risk everything, including her own life.

She entered the cockpit, and seemingly in the middle of a conversation between EDI and Joker, and luckily for her, it was about the same thing.

"I'm telling you, something went wrong," Joker told the AI with intense worry and concern, nodding to Tali as she entered, "Even Tali agrees. And Garrus knows something is up. You don't just disappear for six days without even talking to your crew for a minute of it. Not our Commander. I don't like it. It reeks of a mission gone wrong."

EDI was quick to reply, "I did detect a Hegemony shuttle leaving the Aratoht prison six days ago. It was not following the scheduled flight paths in this sector, and due to the security alert that was issued in the prison, followed several minutes after by the take-off of the shuttle, it is safe to assume Kenson and the Commander hijacked this shuttle and left in it, so the theory that he is currently being held on Aratoht and has been captured is not true."

"Then he's at Project Base, as scheduled," Joker frowned, shaking his head as he swivelled in his chair, "Then why wouldn't he contact us? Surely they have communications up and running over there, so they would contact us right? Maybe they've run low on their landline connections? I knew they should have called Telstra."

Tali shot him a glare, one that would have melted steel and even sent Marcus Shepard running off scared in fright, "This isn't a game, Moreau. Something has happened to my husband, I'm certain of it."

"I'm inclined to be with Tali on this one," Garrus spoke up from behind them, arriving on the cockpit, "You don't just disappear for six days without telling anyone. Not our Shepard. I know him like a brother, and Tali knows him even better. Either he can't break radio silence, which I believe unlikely, or something has gone wrong."

"Either way, we do not have much time," EDI spoke up, her tone serious and solemn, indicating warning, "We have only an hour until the Reapers arrive and the invasion begins."

"Yes, thanks for that EDI. No pressure at all. Impending doom and everything," Joker shot down, "Um...can you be exact on the time we have?"

"Of course. We now have fifty-nine minutes, ten seconds left until Arrival."

Joker's look transferred to Tali and Garrus' and he made a purposely loud gulping sound, "Now I'm starting to wish I hadn't asked."

"I don't know about you guys, but I'm not just going to hang around while Marcus and Kenson are likely in trouble," Garrus declared, squaring his shoulders, "This lone wolf crap ends now. As far as I'm concerned, it ended as soon as he left Aratoht. I say we go to Project Base, find him and find out what the hell is going on."

"Is it possible that the batarians could have found the base?" Tali suggested, turning to the glowing pawn that represented EDI, "Maybe that's why he isn't sending anything?"

"Unlikely. I am linked into all batarian comm traffic, and the only batarian warship in the system in the BRS Glorious Point, which is currently patrolling Bastzuda. Apart from that, there is no other Hegemony naval presence in this system. Therefore, it is unlikely they have found the base, otherwise a larger military presence would have been detected."

Joker cursed, almost slamming his hand against the chair before remembering his brittle bones and simply landing it softly under the arm piece, "Yeah, fuck it. I'm going with Garrus' idea. We should go to Project Base and ask them what the hell is taking them and why the hell we can't see any fireworks coming from the relay."

Tali nodded in agreement, "I'll lead the  _entire_ squad onto the asteroid."

Everyone looked at her, Joker with a wide-eyed gaze and Garrus with a look of shock, "Tali, I'm not sure that's a-"

She whorled on him, ramming her finger within inches of his mandibles, "He is  _my_ husband. And ancestors be damned if I let anyone stop me from finding him! I will lead the squad into that base, end of discussion. As of now,  _I'm_ in command, am I understood?" When it got down to it, she found unusual pleasure in being in command. She suited it.  _Only because of Marcus._

Garrus snapped to a attention, nodding with a grin, "Yes ma'am. What are your orders, ma'am?"

She shook her head, allowing herself a small smile at his gesture, "Well first, you can knock off the 'ma'am' business. You call Marcus 'Shepard' in combat, so you can just call me Tali to avoid confusion. Second of all, I want you to rally the whole squad in the armoury. Tell them to suit up, get their weapons and get ready for a possible combat insertion."

Garrus raised an eyebrow at that, "You're expecting trouble? Kenson's an ally, she wouldn't hurt Marcus. They only want the same thing; to stop the Reapers."

"It's not Kenson I'm worried about," she turned away from him, moving down the deck and towards the armoury as she spoke, "Its him. Joker, you know what to do. Lock onto Marcus' coordinates and get us to Project Base, on the double."

"Yes ma'am!" Joker jested as she moved through the CIC. It was there and then that Tali'Shepard disappeared, and was replaced only by Brigadier General Tali'Shepard vas Normandy, of the Migrant Fleet Marines.

And her husband needed her help, whether he wanted it or not.

**{Loading...}**

_November 22, 2185_

_1052 hours._

_Medical Bay, Project Base, Project Asteroid, Bahak System, Viper Nebula._

_Commander Marcus Lee Shepard._

_I love you._

Those three words had berated and assaulted him the entire time he slept, never relenting or stopping. They cursed him, taunted him for his failure to keep his promise. Now he was in enemy hands, likely being indoctrinated, and he would be forced to watch everyone he loved harvested by the one enemy he should have stopped.  _I should have known. Damn it. I should have left Kenson to rot in that prison and found Project Base myself. That way, I wouldn't be in this mess._

But just as quickly as the assault had begun, it ended with the words echoing on the wind, but never truly progressing. If he were awake, he'd be frowning, but right now, he was terribly confused. Why did they stop? Was he dead again? He didn't understand what was happening. He tried to move, but remembered he was unconscious. Despite this however, he felt his arm  _move._ He flexed his hand, and felt it flex. And before he knew it, he felt itchiness around his eyes, and his head began to feel fuzzy.  _What...? Am I waking up?_

He heard a voice, a female voice. It didn't belong to Kenson, but someone else. He could almost make out the words she was saying, and he could tell she was nearby and logging them into a datapad just by the way she spoke, "Shepard has been sedated constantly for six days now. We've had to increase each dosage..."

 _Six days!? I've been unconscious for six days! FUCK! The invasion's today! Get up soldier! Get up and_ _ **move!**_ As if responding to his commands, his eyes seemed to hesitantly open, his body aching all over, but moving. The room around him was a haze, but he instantly recognized the sterile white walls as being Project Base. As he looked around further, he saw he was on a medical table, with numerous bits of medical equipment lying around him and observation windows aligning the room, where numerous desks lay and scientists worked. He saw two marines guarding the open doorway, and his eyes landed on the female, who turned out to be a female soldier, her hair a vibrant orange and her skin a pale, milky white. She held a datapad, and seemed to be pacing constantly.

"...It seemed like Shepard was waking up a moment ago," she scoffed, not even seeming to notice said spectre looking at her as he moved to sit, the marines and scientists all turned away from him, "It's probably just a glitch in the system."

He looked down on his body, and found himself wearing nothing but a pair of white that went down to just above his knees. Aside from that, he was basically naked.  _Damn. They've taken my armor, my weapons..._ He checked to see if his omni-tool was there, but that was absent as well, which meant no omni-shield, omni-bow, or omni-blade.  _Wait, what about my biotics? If I can get out of here, I can find my weapons and armor and destroy the relay before the Reapers arrive. I have to be quick though; god knows how much time we have left. I know they haven't arrived yet, or elsewise they'd have destroyed this place by now and I'd be impaled on a dragon's tooth._

He checked for his biotics, and grinned as he saw them brim around him, wrapping in cool liquid fire.  _Guess they thought I'd be too unconscious to use them. Boy, are they in for a big surprise. My cybernetics must have rejected the sedative eventually._ He turned to the woman, and decided she was his first target, and let his biotics come to life. Unfortuntately for him, the sound of them being summoned was enough to be heard, and the woman stopped, rooted to the spot in terror as she turned to face him. Two pairs of eyes met, but both of them showed entirely different intentions. She dropped the datapad on the floor, Marcus hearing it clatter, and she began to rapidly walk backwards.

"No glitch! The sedatives aren't working!" She moved to reach for her pistol, but found there was none, and instead ran for the open doorway, past the marines. That gained their attention, and she pointed at Marcus just as he came to stand in the middle of the room, "Security! Take him down!"

By the time the two indoctrinated soldiers turned around, he was already upon them. One biotically powered fist shot forward, slamming into the helmeted face of one marine. The helmet bent inwards and the soldier was sent flying backwards, head snapped from the force of the strike and body barrelling uselessly into the ground. He turned to the second soldier, who was, to his credit, quickly raising his rifle to fire at him. He swatted the weapon aside, which fired a burst harmlessly into a wall on the opposite side. The soldier managed to punch Marcus in the chest, but that barely winded him and he responded by ducking low and sweeping his legs out from under him, causing him to plop down on the ground. Helpless, the marine just watched as slammed his foot down on his trachea, killing him instantly.

He turned to race out the door, only to stop as an intense, blue mass effect field raised infront of him, bouncing him back as he impacted it. He hissed, and turned to the woman standing behind the controls, arms crossed and looking smug. It was the orange-haired marine, and he watched as the scientists rushed from the room in fear, the soldier merely rolling her eyes and bringing up her omni-tool, likely to inform Kenson of his awakening. He needed to get out of here before she called reinforcements.

He looked around the room, desperately trying to find a way out of the room. But he saw nothing.  _Six days. Maybe Tali got sick and tired of waiting and decided to trace my omni-tool, if they haven't already thrown it out an airlock._ He shook his head, trying not to think of his wife.  _She'll be fine, you just need to get out of here. Focus on getting out of here, and getting back to her._ He doubled his scan of the room, until his eyes dropped on a set of racks were six LOKI mechs sat in collapsed form; looking to be in a fetal position, and deactivated. They sat on the otherside of the field, but what if he were to...

His eyes found a console nearby. He immediately jogged over to it, and he could see the woman's confused gaze looking down at him. Logging into the console and bringing up its holographic interface, he quickly found a subprogram that gave him direct access to the mechs outside; it was obviously added as a security measure incase of a lockdown.  _Now I can use it to my advantage._ He pressed a few buttons, and looked up and watched as one of the LOKI mechs hummed to life, and stood up, Tempest SMG in hand and moving over to the unarmed marine, who stood there, oblivious to her imminent death. With the LOKI mech under his command, he programmed it to attack everything in sight and then detonate at the console controlling the mass effect field. He stood right infront of the glass where the woman stood, and merely crossed his own arms, this time looking at  _her_ smugly as the LOKI approached.

Muffled gunshots were heard and he heard her cry out for security just before the final shots pierced her shields and red blood exploded onto the observation glass, the LOKI still firing as her body slid off the console and onto the ground. And just as instructed, the mech arrived at the console and collapsed once more, followed by a loud explosion that blew up the terminal and shattered the window, almost showering him in glass if he hadn't moved away in time. Turning left, he could only smile as the field evaporated into nothing, and he jogged through it, running past the two dead marines.

 _Weapons. Armor. Omni-tool. Damn it, I need them. I need to find Kenson. I need to find Project Control and activate the torches to send this thing on its way. If I can convince Kenson to join me on the way, that'll be a bonus._ He somehow doubted he'd be successful in doing that.

_Saren was indoctrinated, and the closest he got to resisting the influence was by killing himself. Maybe that's all Kenson can really do. End her misery by ending her own life. And if that fails, I'll end her myself._

He moved through the room and up the steps leading into the main observation deck, which was now completely empty aside from the wrecked remains of a blown up console, and the mutilated remains of what used to be the female marine's body before the LOKI mech explosion blew her corpse apart. He moved past it, ignoring the smell as he, half-naked, made his way towards what looked to be the exit. Before he reached it though, he noticed something to his left and turned, seeing a half-unlocked locker. Moving over to it and opening it, he expected to find some armor he could wear or a weapon, but what he got was even better.

All this things; armor, weapons and omni-tool, were all stuffed inside the locker and they hadn't even bothered locking it. He picked up his helmet, watching as the Y-shaped visor glared accusingly back up at him. Getting sentimental, the alarm that sounded above him was enough to shake him from his thoughts. He heard Kenson over the PA system, "Shepard is loose! All fireteams near the medical bay, report there immediately! Remember, subdue and restrain! Hurt him alittle if you must, but do not kill him! We need him alive! Move! And whatever you do, do not let him anywhere near Project Control!"

With a speed almost as fast as lightning, he dropped his helmet and began pulling out his armor, first latching on his chestplate, then his shoulderpads, followed by his shinguards, boots, utility belt, bandolier...

By the time he was done, he was grabbing his weapons and holstering them, and had reclaimed his bag of thermal clips. He was also glad that the cloaking device hadn't been found, and was still wedged in the place he had left it.  _Good, Kasumi won't have to kill me now._ Strapping his bandolier on, he quickly slammed the locker shut, and did a weapons and HUD check. With a sigh and a steel of his nerves, he turned to leave only to notice something holographically displayed above the locker. He saw it, and immediately recognized it as the countdown. He gulped.

00:00:59:10.

He had literally  _fifty-nine minutes_  until the Reapers came through the relay.

_Not much time. I have to get this asteroid moving and get the hell out of here!_

He quickly turned away and ran over to the door. He found it locked down, and quickly, his impatience and anger boiled into a terrifying hybrid mixture.  _I'M NOT GOING TO BE STOPPED BY A FUCKING DOOR!_

His biotics lashed out and with a grunt of effort, ripped the door from its hinges, sending it flying forward and into a group of marines who had been guarding the door, crushing two of them. The last three immediately opened fire on him, only for his kinetic barriers to absorb most of the impact. In an instant, he was yelling as his pulse rifle rose up, took aim and roared to life, ripping through the shields of the first one and tearing into flesh, the marine crying out in pain as he slumped forward dead.

"Falling back! Cover!" the rear marine called out and, shotgun in hand, began retreating to the door at the end of the small hallway, but the marine covering him wasn't near fast enough to provide suppressing fire. Wrapping him in dark energy, Marcus tossed him into a wall on his right like a rag doll, the sound of breaking bones heard as his body fell to the ground in a heap. Locking onto the retreating soldier, he biotically launched forward, slamming into him at intense speeds and obliterating his ribcage in the impact, smashing his chestplate and sending him flying into an observation window right behind him, causing a spiderweb of cracks to appear.

He whorled to the left and moved down the corridor, a door directly ahead opening as two more marines rushed out, immediately taking cover as they attempted to pin him down. One got up and tossed a flashbang in his direction, but Marcus merely turned away, the flash harmlessly passing by, before he spun back around and sprinting forward.

Jumping up, he brought his leg up in a kick, and brought it down again, the force of it crushing one soldier's nose and causing him to fall to the ground in a heap. Marcus landed ontop of him, straddling his waist as his omni-blade came to life and in the same instant, launched towards the man's face. The marine swiped it aside, trying to roll away, but Marcus was faster, and his blade eventually found its mark, buried deep in his forehead. Ripping it out, it just as quickly morphed into an omni-bow as he aimed at the second disgruntled soldier and fired, the blast of superheated energy vaporizing his head in a single hit. He relieved one of the marines of his radio and linked it to his HUD before tossing it away. Both hostiles vanquished, he got up and rushed through the door, heading down another corridor.

Williams voice came over the radio, "Torras, Maxwell, report!"

He spoke into the radio in response, "Torras and Maxwell are dead. And I'm still alive. You'll have to do better than that."

"Fuck!" Williams cursed.

"Damn it, if Shepard's past them..." Kenson roared over the radio, clearly too desperate to care that he could hear her, "Where are those fireteams? Get them in there,  _now!_ "

Williams switched radios instantly, "Squads Trident, Megaladon and Jurassic, head for Project Control and protect it at all costs! Fireteams Ranger, Wilder, X-Ray, Tango, Piper and Angel, get your asses to the medical bay and reinforce fireteams Spice and Trojan and stop Shepard! Remember, incapacitated, not dead! Move it!"

He continued until he came into a mess hall looking area, but all the tables had been turned over and made into makeshift barricades. Before he knew it, three marines instantly peaked out from one overturned table ahead of him, two with assault rifles and one with a sniper rifle, and were already firing on him as he hid behind one support pillar.

"This is Fireteam Spice! We've made contact with the hostile! He's in the mess hall!"

"All fireteams, double time it ASAP!" Williams replied, his voice full of iron and conviction.

 _Better push forward before I'm boxed in._ He immediately activated Kasumi's cloak and rushed forward, the three soldiers still firing at the pillar he hid behind even as he converged on their cover from the left. Raising his rifle, he took aim at the marksman with the Mantis Sniper rifle and fired two bursts, one penetrating his unshielded chest and the other blasting through his helmet, sending his body plopping down onto the floor. Leaping over the table, he slammed the butt of his pulse rifle into one marine's face, and turned to the other, ramming it into that marine's chest and pulling the trigger, emptying his guts into the wall behind him. Done with him, it was a simple shot to the head that finished off the third.

"Holy shit! This is Fireteam Trojan, Shepard just slaughtered Spice! We need that back up here now! Where the fuck are yo-"

Fireteam 'Trojan', as they ironically called themselves, were standing in the open, desperately trying to fall back. Using his biotics, he picked up the table Spice had used for cover and send it hurtling towards the team leader like a missile, the impact pinning him to the wall. The table exploded with the impact as well, splinters of wood digging into armor and skin as the soldier cried out in agony.

Rushing forward, pulse rifle drawn, he ended the agonized soldier's life and quickly downed the last two members of the fireteam with cold precision that only a geth could match.  _I need to get moving. Besides, these people are as good as husks. The good marines they once were...they were long dead. I'm just taking out the corpses._

He moved to the end of the mess hall and took one of the dead soldier's frag grenades, waiting at the edge. He heard voices behind it, approaching and his hand fingered the activation switch on the explosive. Just as the door opened, he tossed it inside, and leapt to one side.

The fireteam cried out in surprise before being engulfed in an explosion, the fragments ricochetting and killing anyone who managed to survive the blast. Moving inside, he found the mutilated remains of Fireteam Ranger and Piper, and the steadily retreating remnants of X-Ray. He pushed forward, his assault relentless.

He heard the fireteam leader of Wilder report over the radio, "Shepard is tearing us apart! He just took out Ranger and Piper, and X-Ray's been forced into retreat. We can't hold this position! We need mech support!"

"Regroup!" Kenson ordered, "I'm sending a YMIR mech your way to bolster you."

The next door took him into a large office complex, where he saw the remains of X-Ray, along with Wilder, Tango and Angel, taking defensive positions as they immediately opened fire on him. He rolled to the side, raising his omni-shield and deflecting all their shots as he equipped his Locust and rushed forward.

His SMG found its first target, tearing into the bewildered form of a private. He was taken down in an instant, the shot blowing clean through his helmet and forehead. He danced over his corpse, shield slamming into the form of a charging soldier, sending him falling onto the ground as the corporal was quickly put down as well.

"Get in there! Use the damn flamethrowers!"

He turned around and went into a crouch, bringing up his shield just in time to deflect a jet of orange flame that erupted from one of the fireteams' pyros, his M-451 Firestorm spewing hot death. Seeing the other marines taking advantage of the assault, Marcus formed an idea. Leaping forward, shield still raised, he slammed it into the pyro's face, taking him off balance. He let his shield arm hook the flamethrower under one arm, pinning it as his back came to face the soldier and his left elbow slammed into the marine's face. Stunned, the pyro could do nothing, but watch as Marcus assumed control of his flamethrower, turned it to face the other marines, and let it rip.

Hot streams of flame danced and crackled from the weapon as it engulfed three of the nearest soldiers, and then claimed a fourth and fifth who weren't lucky enough to get away in time. When their screams filled his ears as they burnt alive and tried to pat out the fires, he finally let go of the pyro, spun around and picked him up with his biotics, before sending him hurling into a group of marines compiling at the door, Locust emptying a clean shot into the pyro's tank on his back. He only watched as the tank exploded, and the resulting explosion consumed what was left of the enemy fireteams.

All marines eliminated, he turned and moved up the steps and through the door, holstering his SMG and equipping his rifle. He moved down the corridor, and his gaze was ice cold. Nothing would stop him. Not even his former alliance comrades. His  _indoctrinated_ former alliance comrades.

**{Loading...}**

_November 22, 2185_

_1115 hours._

_Shuttle Dock A5, Project Base, Project Asteroid, Bahak System, Viper Nebula._

_Chief Engineer Tali'Shepard vas Normandy, Gunnery Master Garrus Vakarian, Major General Kal'Reegar vas Normandy, First Lieutenant Madi'Soi vas Ceresa, Second Lieutenant Jacob Taylor, Staff Commander Kaidan Alenko, Master Thief Kasumi Goto, Justicar Samara._

"Unidentified shuttle, you are not cleared to land! Break off now or we will shoot you down."

"You can try, bosh'tet. Garrus, hit it."

"With pleasure, General," and with a lopsided grin, the turian she called a brother hit the acellerator and shot towards the hatch, revving the engines up to full power and hoping the kodiak could survive the impact with the shuttle bay doors.

"Unidentified shuttle, break off! Oh fuck, they're not stopping! Clear the bay! FUCKING CLEAR IT!" the voice ordered, and Tali could only smile as she held onto the nearest bulkhead for dear life.

Their shuttle smashed through the blast doors with enormous force, sending its passengers flying all over and for Garrus' face to almost slam into the console; lucky for seatbelts, he guessed. Tali almost lost her balance, but managed to regain her footing and got up just in time to be slammed back down as the kodiak slammed into the floor of the bay.

The world became a bit of a haze as Tali tried to regain her bearings, shaking her head to regain some of her vision. Finally, it cleared up and she immediately got up, checking the cockpit and the cabin behind them for survivors, "Everyone alright? All of you, speak up if you aren't dead."

"I'm fine," Garrus winced, hissing as he unclipped his seatbelt, "Might have bruised my arm, but I'll be fine," he immediately reached under his seat and retrieved his Reaper sniper rifle, letting it collapse into his hands as he moved into the cabin behind him, "Can't say the same for this shuttle, though. She won't be flying ever again."

"Alive and ready," Kaidan called out.

"It'll take more than a crash to kill the prize," Jacob grinned, shaking his head as he retrieved his shotgun and helmet.

"Tell Garrus to stop worrying about me Tali," Kasumi pleaded, coming into view with an ecstatic wave, "I'm more than capable of taking care of myself," she seemed to look off to the side and shook her head, "Oh, is Garbear disappointed about not getting a damsel-in-distress, today? Well that's just too bad."

"I am unharmed," Samara informed her.

"I told Shepard, this and I'll tell you," Kal announced, Madi appearing at his side, "If I don't die in battle, then its death far too insulting to recognize. I'm not ready to die just yet."

"Glad to see we all made it in one piece," Tali declared, exiting the cockpit and making her way over to the cockpit, pulling out her geth plasma shotgun and letting it collapse into her hands, "Now let's go greet these people properly."

"They seemed pretty desperate to keep us away," Madi pointed out, using her weapon to smash the glass of the hatch, as the hatch was jammed shut from the crash, "Just makes this all the more suspicious."

"Indeed. Everybody, step back," Tali ordered, and they did as told. She raised her shotgun and fired thrice into the glass, eventually causing it to explode outwards, omitting them exit. She was the first to leap from the wrecked shuttle, followed by Garrus, Kasumi, and then everybody else. When they were out, they all formed around the shuttle bay. Tali looked up to see that the doors were now bent inwards, the mass effect field above the only thing stopping decompression. Fire licked at the bay's floors, and the shuttle was completely dead and trashed, "Well, we won't be exiting that way."

"That was our last shuttle too," Garrus sighed, shaking his head, "Why do you make me do crazy things, Tali? The Shepard gene really is inside. He's gotten into your head. Next you'll be dancing just as badly, and driving just as badly."

She shook her head, turning to the exit, "We'll just take one of their shuttles. Either way, its time to get some answers."

Just as she declared this, a few human looking soldiers, presumably alliance, due to the Alliance insignia sitting above them, entered, all armed with rifles and shotguns. She frowned at them, concerned as to what their intentions were. But she found them out pretty quickly when they raised their weapons at them. She shouted her orders almost as instantly, "Open fire!"

Her shotgun barked and ripped one marine's belly asunder, boiling the flesh beneath and killing him. Garrus' rifle coughed and the round pierced a second marine's helmet. Jacob picked up another with his biotics, and tossed him aside, and Madi let her avenger rip into the fourth and final one. All hostiles dead, Tali turned to them, shaking her head.

"Now we know what went wrong, not that it makes any sense," the quarian declared, "And if they've hurt Marcus, I swear I'm going to kill every last one of them."

At that moment, Kenson's voice came over the PA system, "Shepard is in Project Control! All squads, converge on that location! I don't care if he's ripping you apart, I want him stopped! And keep Project Control secure! If all else fails, I'm going to try and take the reactor offline! Williams, get to Project Control and secure it. Defend it to your last breath."

"Well, now we know that Shepard is just fine," Kaidan quipped, looking at Tali, "What should we do? Head to the reactor room and stop Kenson, or head for Project Control?"

She had a decision to make, and she knew which one was the right one, she just didn't want to admit it.  _But he needs my help...he could get hurt...killed..._

But the galaxy needs you more.

Eventually, she reached a decision, turning to face her turian comrade, "Garrus, take Kal, Madi and Samara and head for Project Control; meet up with Shepard there. The rest of you, with me. We'll head to the reactor room and stop Kenson. She won't be expecting us."

Before she could leave, Garrus placed a hand on her shoulder, causing her to turn around. His eyes were full of shock and concern, "Are you sure, Tali? This is your husband. Shouldn't you lead the attack on Project Control, and my team will deal with Kenson?"

She shook her head, "Marcus has taught me a valuable lesson," her eyes met his, and her voice was full of conviction, with a taint of reluctance, "The mission must come first, especially if the galaxy is at stake. Go Garrus. And tell Marcus to stay safe, for ancestors' sake. If I learn you let him get himself killed..."

He helped up his hand in mock defense, smiling, "Oh don't worry, he'll be safer then safer. No Shepard without Vakarian, remember?"

She smiled, nodding, "I remember. Good luck, Garrus."

"You too, Tali."

And with that, they went their seperate ways. The battle to save the galaxy was now in full swing.

**{Loading...}**

_November 22, 2185_

_1127 hours._

_Project Control, Project Base, Project Asteroid, Bahak System, Viper Nebula._

_Commander Marcus Lee Shepard._

Well, he had reached Project Control.

And now he was fighting for his life.

He had entered and right to the right was the main control console for the fusion torches. The countdown was also displayed on the monitors.

00:00:33:22.

 _Not much time left,_ he mused, _need to get those fusion torches active now!_

But before he could even reach the console, he had been ambushed. The three squads; Trident, Megaladon and Jurassic, had been positioned all over the room and had been waiting for him. As soon as he got inside, they had opened fire, downing his shields instantly, forcing him into cover before he was riddled with high-velocity rounds. They had tech armor, engineers overloading his shields every chance they got, combat drones flying around and to make it much worse, a few troopers with missile launchers and flamethrowers. Overall, he wasn't having fun.

And he only had half an hour left.

He peeked over cover, only to duck back behind as another maelstrom of heavy gunfire assaulted his position again. He heard Williams taunting him over the sound of the ambush.

"Give it up Shepard!" he spoke, clearly in the room with him due to the proximity of the voice, "You might as well sit back and watch the Arrival with the rest of us! The Reapers only wish to ascend us, not destroy us! If you could only see that, then you'd embrace them with the rest of us! Except this for what it is!"

 _No,_ he hissed in his mind, "Vigil seemed to disagree on Ilos! From what he said, the Protheans were completely annihilated by the Reapers! You are delusional if you think they aren't going to do the same to us! I stopped Sovereign, I can stop Harbinger and all the rest of them! The Arrival won't happen!"

"Oh, but it will!" Williams declared, voice oozing disappointment, "Its such a pity you're so unwilling to witness our pathetic forms blessed with perfection and immortality. But you will witness it, and when you do, you'll curse yourself for-"

Marcus peeked out, rifle raised and fired at the source of Williams' voice, hitting the man in his tech armor. Cut off, the soldier dived back behind cover, growling. Marcus dived back behind the console, reloading, "Enough of your drabble! I won't waste my breath on someone who's too far indoctrinated to see two feet infront of him. I will activate the torches, and you won't stop me!"

What answered was not Williams' voice,  _ **"So...BE IT!"**_

The voice, as always, penetrated his brain and did things to it that made him shiver. It echoed, and it invaded. But like always, he pushed it out, never once letting it take control of him. But he could never ignore the little pinch of fear it put in him just hearing that voice.

_Sovereign may have been intimidating, but Harbinger is just a whole new level of...evil. Sounds generic, but that's the truth of it._

Omni-shield active, he moved to the left and deflected the fire aimed at him, pushing forward. He almost reached the console on the left but his shields burst at the last minute, and as he dropped his omni-shield for a split-second, a bullet found its way into his side, and he landed in a heap behind said terminal, growling in pain at the shot.

He checked his side, and saw blood seeping from his wound as he applied medi-gel to it. Two of the marines attempted to take him out while he was injured, but all they received was a mouth full of biotic shockwave as they were tossed away like sacks of meat, and he heard them cry out as they flew away.

Getting over the pain in his leg, he deactivated his shield and got out a flashbang grenade, tossing it over his head. He waited for the piercing, white noise it made when going off before he rushed out, gunning down as many soldiers as he could before the effects wore off. His first couple of volleys managed to split one engineer's head open, and he managed to catch another soldier by surprise with a shot to the shoulder, followed by a burst that tore into his throat. Turning left, he gunned down another two, before rolling into cover, using his omni-blade to kill another hiding behind cover. Once in cover, he reloaded, and just in time for the enemy to regain control of themselves.

"Where is he!?" Williams demanded, "Somebody tell me where he is!"

Seeing that there was a soldier directly beside the console he was at it desperately scanning the room, he unholstered his claymore and blasted her in the spine, tearing her body off the ground and into the air, turning her into a airborne strain of blood frenzy. Reloading his shotgun, he answered Williams' demands, "Give it a guess, asshole."

Right on cue, gunfire slammed into his position, "Keep him pinned! Prep some frags! To hell with that Kenson says; we're going to kill this fucking piece of shit."

 _Give it your best shot._ He quickly dropped his shotgun and got out his pulse rifle, knowing that if he didn't thin out their lines soon he'd be overwhelmed, or flanked. He slipped into a prone position, and opened fire on one marine moving from cover to cover. He missed the first shot, and the second shot, but finally got her in the hand, stunning her long enough for him to split her head open with the fourth shot. Reloading he prepared to move onto the next target when he heard a loud explosion nearby.

"Sir, we've got new contacts!" one marine called out, "Four tangos, coming through the doorway! One turian, one asari and...two quarians!"

 _One turian, one asari and two...what!?_ He looked out from behind his cover, and smiled as he saw Garrus, assault rifle blazing, storm into the room, followed by Samara, who kept him shielded with her biotic barrier, Kal and Madi not far behind.  _Tali_ _ **did**_ _get fed up with waiting. But where is she? Where are the others?_

"What the hell!?" Williams cursed, "Switch positions! Jurassic, converge on Shepard's position, while Trident and Megaladon concentrate on the new hostiles! Shoot to kill! I repeat, I want them  _terminated!_ "

He watched as the eight remaining troopers in Jurassic squad turned and began moving to flank Marcus on the left. Obviously they didn't understand actual tactics anymore, as that movement left them wide open. Activating his cloak, he slipped out of cover, and began to sneak around to flank Jurassic as they attempted to flank him. He heard Kal cry out as one of his frag grenades detonated nearby, blowing apart one of the nearby consoles and sending one marine flying into the open onto the cold floor, where Madi promptly ended him with a burst of gunfire. He raced past the dead corpse and slammed head on into the marine lagging behind, rolling over his back and slamming his omni-blade into the soldier's face, before ripping it out, body tumbling to the ground.

He moved up behind and kicked another in the back of the knees, forcing him onto one, and then followed by tossing his last flashbang, disorienting the last six. Turning back to the seventh, he proceeded to snap his neck as the grenade went off, and he leapt in, cloak deactivating. He used his biotics to send a shockwave colliding into two engineers, sending them flying into the ceiling and crashing back down onto the ground again, and then he turned to the heavy wearing tech armor, where he reached in, primed one of his frag grenades, and then kicked him away. He didn't hang around to hear or see the resulting bang, instead turning to the last three, who were just recovering from the flash attack.

His pulse rifle tore into the flame tank on the back of the pyro, and once again it exploded, consuming the last two marines in a gulf of heat. The dead engineers slammed back into the ground, the sound of bones breaking as they hit. He wondered why they hadn't hit long before then, and realized he must have been so drunk on adrenaline that time slowed down for him.  _Did I...did I just kill three people in the face of a couple of seconds? That's insane._

He turned back around, Jurassic squad now dealt with, to see that Megaladon was essentially decimated. Bodies lay all over the control room, red blood collecting all over the place, with some missing heads, arms, legs, fingers and some even torsos. One trooper attempted to drag his bleeding comrade way, but a sniper shot took him down, followed by Marcus giving a mercy killing to the bleeding out trooper.

Trident was backed against a wall, with only four troopers left.

"Sir, Megaladon and Jurassic are  _gone._ We need to retreat!"

"Very well! Kenson can deactivate the reactor anyway," Williams announced, "All of you, retr-"

Samara arrived from out of nowhere, landing directly in the middle of their path of retreat. They turned to rush the other way, but standing there was Marcus, armor soaked with blood and omni-blade aglow, while Garrus, Kal and Madi arrived at his sides, weapons drawn.

Williams' expression turned into one of sheer anger, "You cannot stop the Arrival!"

"I stopped Sovereign. I stopped Saren. I stopped the geth," he raised his rifle and aimed at Williams' head, "I'll stop you."

A gunshot was heard, and Williams' head blew apart, the geth rounds tearing his skull into shreds and causing him to fall backwards, dead. His last round spent, he holstered his rifle, and pulled out his Locust, slamming a fresh thermal clip into it as Williams' dead corpse hit the ground. The rest of the soldiers looked at him with empty eyes, and he merely shook his head as he turned to Garrus, "Remember those salarians on Virmire? The ones Saren had locked up?"

Garrus simply nodded, "I always will."

"You know what to do," was all Marcus said as he moved past Garrus and moved back up the steps into Project Control, the turian turning back to the group and nodding at Samara, raising his Mattock as he did, "Put them down."

Marcus only heard the gunfire as he arrived back in the room, heading straight for the main console, closing his eyes shut as he remembered those salarian STG agents. The ones Sovereign turned into mindless husks.  _It was a mercy killing,_ he told himself,  _they were already gone, their bodies just didn't realize it._

He stepped around the dead bodies of the fallen marines as he reached the console.  _An entire battalion of good men turned into servants for Harbinger to play with. They deserved better than this. I'll make sure they're remembered._ He looked up at the mass relay in the distance, and remembered what he was about to do.  _The three hundred thousand lives lost here will also be...wait, what if I try to contact them?_ He looked at the time. Shit, only twenty-eight minutes left.  _It might just be enough time to evacuate. They could get a few hundred out at least...not everyone has to die..._

He reached the console, bringing up the main interface. He could feel Garrus and the others arriving behind him as he began overriding Kenson's lockdown on the fusion torches. As Garrus reached his side, Marcus spoke, "I knew you guys would come for me. Well I  _should_ have known. Where are the others, though? Where's Tali?"

"She went to stop Kenson from deactivating the reactor so she couldn't stop the fusion torches," Garrus informed him, "If we quickly activate these torches, we can get to her, pick her up and get out of here before we reach the relay."

"Sounds like a plan," some childish part of him was annoyed that she hadn't come with Garrus to rescue him.  _She can't worry about you all the time. She's a woman; she understands the necessity of this. The galaxy's existence is at stake. All of life, knowing it or not, is depending on us to save them all._

He finally overrode Kenson's lockdown and activated the torches, and he watched them to come to life outside, one giant torch erupting in giant red flame as it slowly, but gradually, began speeding the asteroid towards the Alpha Relay in the distance. It was done; they had set their path in motion, and now it wasn't a matter of when the Reapers arrived; but when the asteroid hit the relay. The countdown didn't change however; it only moved up by two minutes.  _Shit._  They had thirty minutes to escape this system before the asteroid reached the relay.

A VI's voice spoke over the PA system, "Fusion torches activated. Warning: Collision with mass relay estimated to occur in T-minus thirty minutes. Recommend immediate evacuation procedures."

Garrus nodded and was about to leave when he saw Marcus still typing at the console. He turned back to Marcus, telling his team to wait as he did, "Marcus, we need to go! You heard the VI; we need to go get Tali and the others, call the Normandy for evac and get off this rock!"

He shook his head, refusing to leave as he brought up communication protocols, "Can still save them...call them...tell them to evacuate...have to save as many as I can..."

He looked at him incredulously, "Who, Kenson? Shepard, they're trying to kill us! They're all indoctrinated; you can't save them!"

"Not them. Must reach Aratoht. Tell them to evacuate. Three hundred thousand lives. Cannot let them all die. Some may live. Hundreds...thousands, if we're lucky..."

"Marcus, what are you on about...?"

"I can save them, dammit!" His typing got more frantic, "We just need to-"

Suddenly, the console turned off. Marcus, surprised slammed his fists into the console in rage, "No, no, no, no, no, NO! I cannot-NOOOOOOOO!"

Kenson's voice came over the comm, "Shepard, do you have ANY idea what you've done!"

Marcus' voice was a growl, "You FUCKING BITCH! Reactivate the comms!"

"To hell with you!" Kenson shouted back, her face contorted in anger. She was in the reactor room, and seemed to be typing frantically at a terminal. She had a squad of marines around her, and there was no sign of Tali and her squad, "You want to stop the Arrival? FINE! But you won't be allowed to evacuate anyone! Let's see the great Commander Shepard choose! Sacrifice three hundred thousand, or embrace the gifts the Reapers offer! It should be an obvious choice!"

Marcus merely eyed her, eyes contorted in rage, "Kenson, open the fucking comm-"

"I said NO!" Kenson shouted, slamming her own fists into her terminal, "You must CHOOSE!"

"DAMN YOU!" Garrus almost jumped as Marcus seemed to animalistically growl at her, and for a second he thought the commander might break down and sob, but he merely responded in a lower voice, "Damn you...the torches will stay active...Garrus, let's go. We have to...we have to stop Kenson..."

He had never seen Marcus like this before. He looked so distraught, so defeated, so...ashamed?  _What the hell is going on? What does he mean by 'three hundred thousand.'_

Either way, Kenson was shocked by his response, clearly expecting his morals to get the better of him, "Shepard, wait-"

Marcus raised his Locust and shot the console, her form disappearing just as a gunshot was heard on it. He turned to Garrus, his expression cold behind his helmet and devoid of remorse, "Come on. Tali obviously hasn't arrived yet. We have to kill Kenson and get the hell out of here."

Garrus held out his arm, stopping him, which subjected him to the spectre' venomous glare, but he wasn't fazed, "What did you just do?"

Marcus' glare diminished, and he pushed past the turian, refusing to meet his gaze as he walked away, "What I'm about to do is commit the worst attrocity in fifty years. Come on."

_God, forgive me._

**{Loading...}**

_November 22, 2185_

_1137 hours._

_Main Reactor, Project Base, Project Asteroid, Bahak System, Viper Nebula._

_Chief Engineer Tali'Shepard vas Normandy, Master Thief Kasumi Goto, Staff Commander Kaidan Alenko, Second Lieutenant Jacob Taylor._

Tali ran into the room, shotgun aimed first, with Kasumi and Jacob covering her flanks, and Kaidan covering their rear. It had been one hell of a fight getting to the reactor, but they had made it. Kasumi had complained about the lack of a tactical cloak, but Tali knew it had been worth it. Afterall, it got Marcus out of that prison alive. As they arrived inside the reactor room, they found it to be located within a ring of observation decks, like the ones they were in now, with a observation window giving them a good view. Inside was the reactor, standing as tall as a pillar and reaching all the way to the ceiling, glowing a brilliant aqua blue. Kenson stood at the controls, and a squad of marines protected her, but none of them had noticed them enter. Just as well, Tali thought.

"Jacob, blow that glass outwards. Give us an entrance," Tali ordered, summoning Kasumi and Kaidan to her side, "You two, get ready to enter and open fire as soon as you get a bead on your target."

"I still feel naked without my cloak," Kasumi joked, prepping her Locust, "But I guess I'll manage."

Tali didn't even acknowledge the joke as Jacob let the energy flow through him, and he let a biotic warp shoot forward, hitting the glass and blowing it apart with a resounding shatter. She didn't give out a war cry, she just silently charged and leapt off the deck, shotgun raised and landed on both feet down below, her shotgun raised and choosing a target before she landed. She deployed Chatika as she did and then fired at and killed one of the troopers nearest her, her plasma shotgun blowing his leg off, allowing her to blow his head off as well before pumping the chamber. Kasumi landed next, rolling to the side as she let loose a torrent of fire at another marine, downing him instantly.

Kaidan followed as the rest of the enemy squad opened fire, Kenson gasping in surprise, but quickly getting back to work. Just as Tali moved to aim her shotgun at another soldier, his assault rifle sights landing on her, a familiar, dark undertone came through her head as she fired and downed the soldier, a tornado of gunfire forcing her to take cover behind a support strut.

_**"Quarian, you still continue to resist. That is admirable. But your time is at an end. You will be ascended."** _

_Harbinger. Kenson's actions...they make sense now. Herself and all these marines are indoctrinated._ She ignored Harbinger's words however as she came back over and fired her shotgun again, directing Chitika to provide fire support for Kaidan, who was currently pinned by three pyros. The round she fired bounced harmlessly off the trooper's tech armor, but she quickly fixed that by hacking into her omni-tool with hers and overclocking it so it overloaded. Her tech armor exploded, and she gasped in surprise as Tali suddenly came back, and blew her torso off with a single blast of superheated plasma.

Another trooper moved to punch her in the visor, but she quickly blocked it, diving low and kicking him inbetween the thighs. He groaned in pain at the impact to his testes, and she quickly finisihed the job by ramming her weapon below his chin and pulling the trigger, his head erupting into a fountain of blood and gore. Disgusted, she kicked his corpse away, reloading her shotgun as she did.

She had been so taken up in the moment that she hadn't noticed that the battle had ended a minute ago. Every soldier lay motionless on the ground, dead. Kaidan cleaned his rifle, which seemed to be stained in blood red, and Jacob let his biotics die down alittle. Kasumi stopped to catch her breath, having not fought this hard since the Collector Base assault. Tali, assured that her team was alright, quickly turned to Kenson, who seemed to not have noticed the battle's results, as she still typed at the console. Tali cleared her throat, speaking loudly, sliding her shotgun into its clamp on her back as she pulled her pistol free, aiming it at Kenson as she slowly approached, "Step away from the reactor."

Kenson slammed her fists into the terminal, her eyes brimming with tears as she sobbed lightly, full of anger, "You've...you've ruined everything! Who the hell are you!? I can't...I can't hear the whispers anymore! I can't hear them! No, please come back! I need to hear the voices! They...they give me strength!"

Tali simply shook her head, coming within a meter of the indoctrinated scientist and still closing, "I'm Shepard's wife, Tali'Shepard vas Normandy in full. And you  _will_ turn around, doctor. Do it now, or so help me, you bosh'tet, I  _will_ end you."

"You've taken them away from me," Kenson mumbled, sniffing, but refusing to face Tali, her greying hair falling into her face every few seconds, "I will never see the Reapers' Arrival. Never be blessed with imperfection. I hate you. I hate all of you. But-"

She didn't get to finish as Tali lowered her pistol in hand and used the other to grab Kenson's shoulder and roughly turn her around, slamming her backwards into the console as she looked on at Tali blankly, the quarian coming to within inches of her face, pistol coming to her side, "Enough of this! Where is my husband? Is he hurt? Dead? So help me, if he's-"

"Oh, he's fine. The ignorant fool will never be blessed by the Reapers, but he's fine," Kenson mumbled, her eyes meeting Tali's with a malicious glare, "But you won't be. He'll be too busy cleaning you and me up to escape."

"Wha-" she felt a shuffling behind her and saw Kenson pull out a detonator from her pocket. Tali's eyes widened, as her eyes met Kenson's, who grinned sadistically, "At least I get to kill Shepard's wife. That'll give me some sort of comfort as I die."

Tali made to move away, but she knew she wouldn't escape in time. She turned to her team, trying to tell them to run, to hide. But she knew it was futile; they were just as doomed as her. She closed her eyes, waiting for the inevitable.

Suddenly, the sound of a biotic field was heard, and she assumed Jacob tried to save her. But as she listened, she heard a muffled explosion, but no heat washed over her; she wasn't thrown aside or obliterated. Turning around, she widened her eyes to see a biotic field hanging infront of her, Kenson reduced to nothing but a few slivers of meat hanging off the console and a large puddle of blood that had been splashed all over the place. Kenson was dead, but she and her squad had survived. She turned, but saw that it wasn't Jacob or even Kaidan holding the field.  _Then who...?_

She turned to the right to watch as Marcus appeared, hand raised and body glowing in biotic fire, approaching her with Garrus, Madi, Kal and Samara at his back. Seeing her, he dropped his field and managed to catch her as she leapt at him, arms wrapping around him. He didn't return the gesture, merely patted her on the back, and that shocked. Letting go, she looked up at him to see a cold and fixed gaze; no warmth was held in it.

"Marcus, what's wrong...?" she tried to ask, but Marcus was already marching towards the exit elevator, ignoring the rest of them.

"Come on, we have to go," Marcus growled gloomily and his voice was ice, no love or caring in it, "We've only got twelve minutes before we hit the relay."

Tali looked blankly at his retreating form for a couple seconds, watching as he contacted Joker for pickup and collision and evacuation alarms went off throughout the entire base. Finally, she regained her senses and followed everyone else into the elevator.

It was going to be a narrow escape, but she was more worried about Marcus.

That expression...it had been full of melancholy.

**{Loading...}**

_November 22, 2185_

_1150 hours._

_Landing Pad, Project Base, Project Asteroid, Bahak System, Viper Nebula._

_Commander Marcus Lee Shepard, Chief Engineer Tali'Shepard vas Normandy, Gunnery Master Garrus Vakarian, Staff Commander Kaidan Alenko, Master Thief Kasumi Goto, Second Lieutenant Jacob Taylor, Justicar Samara, Major General Kal'Reegar vas Normandy, First Lieutenant Madi'Soi vas Ceresa._

The Landing Pad was absolute chaos.

As Marcus and the squad arrived they saw cargo containers being lifted up from the pad and being thrown up into space by the sheer velocity of the asteroid's movement. The Alpha Relay no longer sat in the distance, and now was close enough to be loom over them as they closed in. Indoctrinated marines scrambled all over the landing pad, desperately trying to escape the destruction being beset upon them. He watched two kodiak shuttles, dressed in deep black from their days as a black ops group, lift off the pad and shoot off the asteroid, escaping their doom, but they would not escape the system in time and using the relay would only rip them apart in transit.

It got to the point where the marines didn't even bother trying to stop them as they ran past, all of them having dropped their weapons and fleeing to the nearest escape shuttle they could find. Marcus had asked why they couldn't just use the shuttle they came in on, but Garrus had told him that it was 'no longer available.'  _So they trashed it. Great._

They quickly came across the last kodiak, but before they could get in it, it took off, the last marine having gotten inside and moving for lift off. Marcus fired at it, but it was no use, and the shuttle continued to ascend. He cursed.  _The Normandy is still coming in to pick us up; it matters little._ His eyes were drawn back to the looming relay, and he checked his chrono.  _A mere six minutes left. Hurry up Joker!_ They continued to watch the shuttle take off...

...only to watch as it exploded in a flash of light, and the debris disappeared behind them as the asteroid raced past. They all locked on in confusion until they saw what had destroyed appear behind them. They all recognized the black and red of the batarian hegemony.

It was a batarian light cruiser, and it was quite impressive in size, looming over them like a great predator ready to leap on its prey. Its guns lowered over the asteroid, ready to fire.  _They have no idea what awaits them._ He preyed for their souls as much as he preyed for the three hundred thousand who would also never see it coming, and turned to the landing pad once more...

...only to be confronted by the gargantuan yellow holographic form of a Reaper looming over them, this one three times as big as Sovereign, but the hologram had reduced its size considerably.

Harbinger.

 _ **"Shepard,"**_ itboomed,  _ **"You have become an annoyance."**_

"Keelah..." he heard Madi exclaim over the comms and Kal could only look on in awe at the sentient starship. Everyone else watched in silence, Harbinger having not finished speaking.

 _ **"You fight against inevitability. Dust struggling against cosmic winds. This seems a victory to you, an entire star system sacrificed. But even now, your greatest civilizations are doomed to fall,"**_ the batarian cruiser at that point came to loom directly over them, guns now opening fire on the asteroid, but they barely felt the impacts, and it would not stop the impact,  _ **"Your leaders will beg to be harvested."**_

Everyone looked at Marcus, expecting him to say something great and heroic, inspirational and idealistic. But he didn't. When he spoke, his voice was cold, hard and absolutely without bullshit, "Maybe you're right. Maybe we can't win this. But we'll fight you regardless, just like we did Sovereign. Just like we did you. Just like I'm doing now."

He continued, pointing an accusing finger at the enormous ship, "However 'insignifcant we might be, we will fight, we will sacrifice, and we will find a way. That's what humans do. That's what we all do," he looked at his group, and he received hesitant nods, Marcus nodding back as he turned back to Harbinger, awaiting its answer.

It was predictable as always; plain arrogance always showing through,  _ **"Know this as you die in vain: Your time will come. Your species will fall. Prepare yourselves for the Arrival."**_

The hologram winked out of existence, and he checked his chrono, eyes widening into saucers. He looked around to see the mass relay smack bang infront of them.

00:00:02:07.

He also watched the relay sizzle and pop, followed by it glowing more brightly than before. He watched in horror as something shot through the relay, reappearing on the other side. The batarian ship turned its guns to reevaluate its new target, just before another one arrived. Both of them were two kilometers in size, and Marcus would recognize them from anywhere.

_Reapers. Desolation and Primal._

They must have been the vanguard of the invasion, a scouting force. Even now he watched the two colossal behemoths, both of them the exact same design as Sovereign, spin to face them, charging their thanix cannons as their legs opened. As that happened, the Normandy arrived, airlock shooting open as Ken appeared at the door in full armor and breather helmet, holding an assault rifle. He looked disappointed.

"Ahhhh, nothing to shoot? That doesn't seem-" his eyes turned and he saw the Reapers dawning on them, "Crivvens! Get on board, NOW!"

Everybody leapt onboard, ignoring Ken as he slammed the airlock shut. EDI, for their sakes, overrode it and everyone rushed inside, and into the cockpit. Everyone that was, except for Marcus, who rushed straight for the CIC. Tali called out to him, but he didn't answer, and she simply turned back to the cockpit windows and watched as the Normandy shot towards the relay.

"Hold on!" Joker exclaimed.

The Normandy managed to dive inbetween Desolation and Primal, and shoot straight for the relay. Tali's chrono said they had forty seconds left, and urged Joker to high jump it. They were close, so close. And just as they hit the 15 second mark, they hit the relay, and the Normandy escaped, flying away at the speed of light to escape the doomed system.

It was then she turned and rushed into the CIC.

**{Loading...}**

_November 22, 2185_

_1159 hours._

_Main Bridge, Baktha-Class Light Cruiser BRS Glorious Point, Bahak System, Moving alongside Project Asteroid._

_Captain Sargesh Trak._

Sargesh couldn't believe what she was seeing.

_What the hell are those things!?_

"What kind of ships are those?" her navigator asked, staring wide-eyed at the approaching contacts. She had never seen anything like them before.

She quickly regained her senses, "Quickly, all guns, bring them to bear! And open fire!" She could see a dull red glow eminating from both ships, and knew they were moving to attack, "Navigation, hard to port! Communications, tell engineering to reroute all power to the-"

"Wait, someone just used the relay!"

Sargesh turned and watched as what looked to be an alliance stealth frigate, Normandy-Class, if she guessed correctly, jumping through the relay, and disappearing into a flash of white light. Her brow creased into an angry furrow.  _Alliance bastards. But why jump out? They could easily take us. Why would they-_

Her eyes danced between the asteroid headed for the relay and her mind connected the dots all too quickly. She stood up and immediately yelled at navigation, "Get us to the relay! NOW!"

"Captain-"

"Do it now! Full military thrust!" Sargesh yelled until her voice was raw, and she saw that the unknown enemy craft seemed to understand as well, as they began spinning towards the relay as well at faster speeds than thought possible, but all three were too late.

They all watched as the asteroid slammed into the Alpha Relay, and it split apart like a delicate toy. It blew apart in sections, the rings blowing outwards into space, while the pronged shape cascaded in on itself. The eezo in the middle seemed to collapse in on itself as the asteroid split, and then violently exploded, a great ball of intense blue light expanding outwards constantly, consuming everything in its path. The two unknown ships were quickly engulfed and disappeared, and Sargesh was blinded as it impacted her cruiser.

Before she died, she could safely assume she was the first to see the destruction of a mass relay.

And hopefully the last.

**{Loading...}**

_November 22, 2185_

_1200 hours._

_Combat Information Center, Normandy-Class Stealth Frigate Normandy SR-2, Asgard System, Exodus Cluster._

_Commander Marcus Lee Shepard, Yeoman Kelly Chambers._

His hands grasped the railing of the galaxy map observation deck, and quickly scrolled down and selected the Viper Nebula, followed by the Bahak System. Zooming in and choosing 3D view, he watched as the mass relay's destruction was already in full swing. Project Base, along with the Asteroid, disappeared in an expanding sphere of blue light, followed by Desolation, Primal and the batarian cruiser all being blown into atoms in the resulting supernova.  _At least we took out two Reapers in the process._ It didn't make him feel any better about it.

The ball continued to expand, cutting a path through the asteroid field, and quickly reaching Bastzuda. The gas giant was obliterated by the ball, and he watched, tears brimming and arms shaking as the blast impacted Aratoht, the blast disintegrating the planet into groups of asteroids, which were then reduced to nothing. Within the blink of an eye, three hundred thousand were murdered; turned into atoms. He couldn't watch anymore, and just as the blast consumed Bahak's sun and crawled towards Clogon, Urmula, and Yunaca, he turned away from the view, and almost ran into Tali, who was waiting at the steps. His wife and Kelly both gave him worried looks as he tore off his helmet. He looked calm at first as he just stood there, blankly looking at the ground.

"Marcus-"

It all went to hell with that one word.

With a thunderous roar, Marcus threw the helmet away with such force that it actually slammed into the wall and became wedged there, the sound making everyone in the CIC jump as sparks jumped out from the spot it impacted. Marcus looked like a demon, and Kelly looked horrified, her eyes locking onto him and backing away, almost falling onto her console. Only Tali had the courage to approach him as the rest of the squad arrived in the CIC, wearily watching him.

She placed hand on his shoulder, squeezing it, "Marcus, what happened?"

He looked up at her and only said a single sentence, his voice shakey and in a whisper, "Not here, in the cabin."

She nodded, taking his hand as they moved into the elevator, Marcus quietly and grimly hitting the button for Deck One. He looked sorrowfully at the deck, and Tali tried to figure out what was wrong. Why did this upset him so much? They had won. He should be celebrating.

The elevator arrived quickly enough and he quickly stormed inside, ripping off his chestplate as he reached the cabin and tossing it onto the floor, pulse rifle, bandolier, and thermal clips still attached and spilling onto the floor. He gradually began ripping off his armor and tossing it away in a hurried frenzy, obviously annoyed about something.

"Marcus, stop and tell me what's got you so angry," She stopped him as he took off his final glove, dropping it onto the floor as he sat on his desk, refusing to look at her. She took his chin and forced it up, making him look her in the eyes, "Marcus, tell me."

"Kenson, she forced my hand," he mumbled, a tear leaving his eyes, "She made me do it. I murdered them. And all I did was delay them."

"Murdered who?" Tali asked incredulously, "You destroyed a relay. The only ones dead are two Reapers, a crew full of batarians wanting us dead, more indoctrinated marines wanting us dead, and that's it. What are you so sorrowful about?"

"You really don't know do you?" Marcus asked, shaking his head as he looked back at the ground, "Of course you don't. I never told you. I was too busy cutting myself off. I forgot to mention it," he moved his eyes to look at hers once more, and this time he choked back a sob, "The relay...Kenson told me...there's enough eezo inside that thing that if were to be released, the explosion would be proportionate to that of a supernova. So yes Tali, we did just destroy a mass relay. And three hundred thousand lives along with it."

Her eyes widened in realization even before he said the last two sentences.  _Oh keelah,_ "Marcus, I'm so sor-"

"Sorry? Don't be sorry. You didn't murder them. You didn't press the button," he laughed bitterly, no humor in his voice, "I did. I chose to do it in the name of saving the galaxy. And you know what? I didn't save the galaxy. Because the Reapers are still going to come, and they're going to kill just as many people, and the galaxy still won't be ready. Harbinger was right; I did resist, and I gained nothing out of it but the blood of three hundred thousand on my hands."

She felt him get off the desk and push past her, moving into the center of the cabin. Before her very eyes, she saw the great Commander Marcus Lee Shepard, her husband, Hero of the Citadel, Lion of Elysium, Destroyer of the Collectors and the man who stared down a Reaper, collapse onto his knees and begin to weep into his hands.

She rushed over to him, kneeling by his feet and taking his head into her lap, smoothing out his hair as she rocked back and forth and spoke, "Sssshhhhhh...you did the right thing. Ssssshhhhhh..."

Marcus only listened. It wasn't alright.

There was three hundred thousand graves to atest to that.

**"And now you know why there's one less system in the Viper Nebula."**

**\- Marcus Shepard.**

**"Three Hundred Thousand murdered, who cares? We did alot worse in the Post Apocalyptic War."**

**\- Reia'Inas pav Earth.**

**"Because that wasn't one person pressing a button. Those people knew their deaths were upon them, the ones in Bahak didn't. That's why it was so important. Why it was so...traumatic."**

**\- Tali'Shepard pav Rannoch.**

**"I recovered in the end...but my soul...no, it never recovered. I still remember. I'll never forget."**

**\- Marcus Shepard.**

_**A/N:** _

_**Chapter 31 comes soon! Two more chapters after this one, and then an epilogue.** _

_**Don't forget to review! I definitely need reviews for this one!** _

_**Keelah Se'lai!** _


	33. We All Pay Dearly

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In the aftermath of the Bahak system's destruction, Shepard has to deal with the consequences of his actions. A painful goodbye is made.

**REQUIEM**

**CHAPTER THIRTY-ONE:**

**WE ALL PAY DEARLY**

_November 23, 2185_

_1405 hours._

_Medical Bay, Normandy-Class Stealth Frigate Normandy SR-2, In Orbit over Terra Nova, Asgard System._

_Commander Marcus Lee Shepard, Chief Engineer Tali'Shepard vas Normandy, Chief Medical Officer Karin Chakwas, Fleet Admiral Steven Hackett._

The floor was all he looked at as he sat there on the edge of the bed, barely registering the aching wound in his side that Chakwas had patched up, the sterile white walls that surrounded him only serving to remind him of Project Base, and what he had only done just a day ago.  _Only yesterday had I destroyed an entire solar system. Aratoht, the Alpha Relay, Project Base; all of it is gone. Nothing left. Not even graves for the three hundred thousand I vaporized. I wonder, were their deaths truly quick and painless? What did the destruction of a mass relay feel like and look like, in the end?_

He remembered the two Reapers who had come through just before its destruction, Desolation and Primal. Three Hundred Thousand died, and all he seemed to get out of it was delaying the inevitable and killing two Reapers out of an undoubtably large fleet of hundreds, possibly thousands more. He had only made a dent.  _But it shows they can be killed. We destroyed one Reaper with conventional weapons, another in its infancy, and two more by blowing up their own tech. They can be defeated._

_Gods can die._

The thought was full of spite, intended to remind himself that they weren't the synthetic gods they believed themselves to be, but just another killable species. One that can be wiped out like all the rest; you just need to know how.

Something squeezed his left hand, and he was broken away from his reverie, turning towards his wife, who stood beside him, also waiting for Hackett to finish talking with Chakwas outside, the quarian holding his hand with one, and using the other to gently caress it, reassuring him. He smiled weakly, but he did not deserve it. Not now. Not so soon. He remembered last night; how he had wept for what felt like hours in her lap, listening to her soothing gestures and trying to calm himself down, but the effects of what he had done had hit him too hard. He hadn't slept well that night either, the voices of the dead haunting him.

And Ashley, as she seemed to do alot now, joined them.

But what had happened them had happened, and all he could do was wait.

The Alpha Relay jump had taken them directly to the Asgard System for whatever reason, and they now waited patiently in orbit of Terra Nova. Marcus could almost feel the irony in the location, and remembered Asteroid X57 and what Balak had intended to do with it.  _Seem like such a hypocrite now. Stopped Balak from slamming an asteroid into Terra Nova and murdering millions, and now I've just slammed an asteroid into a mass relay, and wiped out an entire system full of batarians. I don't know whether that's karma, or irony, or both._

Either way, they had waited there, and as soon as Marcus was able, he had dragged himself from his cabin, trying to act as professional and composed as possible, and had contacted Hackett, informing him of what happened; to the very last detail. The Admiral's response hadn't been angry or clipped, it had simply informed him that he was to hold orbit over Terra Nova. He had then gone on to say that he would be taking his flagship, the McKinley, to rendevouz with the Normandy there, and meet Marcus in person. The commander had reluctantly agreed, deciding that discussing such matters over the comm wasn't a good idea, and best discussed in person.

Eventually, he had been forced to come here, as the medi-gel had worn off, and the single gunshot in his side had begun bleeding and stinging again. So, as soon as possible, Chakwas had removed it and patched him up, and just when the McKinley had arrived in system. He ordered Joker to dock with the dreadnought, and before he knew it, Hackett was at his door, Chakwas discussing his condition; not the gunshot, but his mental capacity.

 _By all rights, I should have gone insane with grief by now,_ he thought, turning to eye Tali and only allowing a small, half a second smile before turning away, eying the floor once more,  _I'm lucky to have such a supporting wife to comfort me. I wouldn't have been here without her. Shit, I probably have picked up my pistol and...and..._

He didn't want to think about what  _could_ have happened. There was too many variables to consider in an argument like that. But he couldn't ignore the feelings that coursed through him; the need to end his torment.  _But I don't deserve that. I'm not going to take the coward's way out. I'll face the music if I have to._

Before he knew it, the door to the med bay shot open, and both his and Tali's gazes shot to the doorway, watching as Hackett inside, Chakwas walking away, whilst giving him a momentary look of worry, before taking off.  _Must have been about the incident in the CIC. I'd swear, I've never seen someone look so terrified to even be near me before. And Garrus still hasn't managed to recover my helmet from the wall; wedged too deep, he said._

The door quickly closed, and the Alliance Admiral stopped for a second, eying Marcus and then Tali, managing to gain all the intel he'd need on them by just giving them a split-second gaze; a testament to the man's age and experience. He stood as he customarily did, hands clasped behind his back, wearing his navy blue alliance uniform, the bars of a Fleet Admiral pinned on his left breast. He wore his officer's cap, the alliance insignia slapped ontop. And his face still sported the same white beard and grizzled face he always had. He hadn't changed a bit; of course, he had known that from the minute he contacted him about the Aratoht mission to begin with.

He turned to Marcus and finally gained the courage to approach, that or simple necessity willed him on and he came to a stop just infront of him, eyes meeting his own. He grunted, a tiny smirk creasing at the corner of his lips, "I see you've recovered," he turned to Tali, holding out his hand as he did, "Miss Zorah, a pleasure."

"Actually, its Mrs. Shepard now," Tali corrected, taking his hand and shaking it with a reluctant smile, the events of yesterday still holding on to her thoughts, "We're officially married. And is a pleasure to see you again, Admiral."

"Please, its just Hackett. You aren't Alliance military; I don't expect you to start following regulations like the regular jarhead," he joked, showing that the hardass admiral had a sense of humor. He turned back to Marcus, his smile growing, "And glad to see you finally got married. Noone, especially you, deserves to face what you do alone."

"Thank you Admiral," Marcus replied, but didn't feel the gratitude as his face remained solemn, his eyes fixed on Hackett's, "I wish I deserved it."

Tali immediately turned to face him, and Hackett merely nodded, hands clasping behind his back once more as he shook his head, "I heard your report, Shepard. Damn it, its sounded like hell down there. How are you feeling?"

"Honestly?" Marcus asked incredulously, laughing mirthlessly for a moment as he shook his head, scratching the back of his neck, "Like I just went into an airport and murdered everyone inside, that's how I'm bloody feeling." He didn't mean to add the last bit of anger at the end, but to be honest, he was feeling all that great at the moment, and right now, Hackett's question just felt rhetorical.

Hackett was unfazed, "I can't imagine what you're feeling. On the way here, I couldn't help but feel this was my fault for dumping this on your shoulders. You had enough to deal with but what you went through..." he eyed Tali, and he saw the look in his eyes. Marcus immediately straightened up and shook his head, drawing back Hackett's gaze.

"No, Tali stays. I've already told her what happens, and I trust her to keep what's said in here secret," he informed him, some confidence reentering his posture as he eyed the admiral.

"Very well then. I trust your judgment, and your wife's," he sighed, scratching the area under his eyes as he tried to form words. Finally, he looked back, eyes full of indecision, "Shepard...when I contacted you, I was requesting you go down onto Aratoht, alone, to rescue a chief scientist, Amanda Kenson, to help stop the Reapers. I knew it was of interest to you, and that we needed to get her out of there to avert a full-scale war between us and the Hegemony," he licked his lips, biting down on his lower lip before he spoke again, "So tell me...how the  _hell_ did that lead to destroying a mass relay, wiping a batarian solar system from existence, and murdering three hundred thousand?"

He heard the shock and annoyance in his tone, and Marcus couldn't blame him, but he couldn't help but feel the need to explain himself. Tali saw otherwise though as she leaned in defensively, "Excuse me? I won't stand here and watch you speak to my husband like that," she hissed, leaning in to be inches from his face as her eyes narrowed, "Marcus just saved the entire galaxy from a Reaper invasion. We were seconds from watching the galaxy burn when he saved it. He did what was necessary to save us all, so you'll show him the respect he deserves. He's already tearing himself apart over it," she pointed at him, not even looking at him as she did, "I will not let you feed his already overflowing doubt of himself!"

"Tali," he said softly, grabbing her arm and drawing her attention, "Its okay, Hackett meant nothing by it. He's just shocked, that's all."

She looked between them before moving away from Hackett, sighing heavily as she moved to stand at Marcus' side once more, apologizing, "I'm sorry, Hackett. That...I stepped out of line."

"To be honest, I think I deserved that. My approach was blunt," he replied, reassuring her before turning back to Marcus, "So, what happened Shepard?"

He sat there and explained everything. Landing alone on Aratoht and rescuing Kenson, getting her to Project Base as planned. How Kenson turned out to be indoctrinated along with the entire battalion of marines and how they betrayed him and sedated him for six days straight. He explained the battle that followed, the decision he was forced into meeting, and those last fifteen seconds before the asteroid collided with the Alpha Relay, destroying it and the Bahak System, along with two Reapers and a batarian cruiser. By the time he was finished, Hackett had one arm crossed along his chest, another stroking his beard. He merely stood there, absorbing the information, trying to comprehend it.

When he finally did, four minutes later, he broke the tense silence, speaking as he did, "So...Amanda...she was...indoctrinated? A servant of the Reapers?"

He nodded, solemnly, "She was too far gone. She didn't believe in stopping the invasion, and almost let it happen, if I hadn't stopped her, with my team's help. She thought the Reapers 'were a blessing', and I'm absolutely certain Harbinger was pulling her strings like she was some kind of puppet. In the end, she blew herself up, almost killing Tali. I'm sorry Hackett; were you two close?"

He sighed, shaking his head and waving a dismissive hand as his arms fell to his side, "No, she was just...a friend. When she told me of what she'd found, I had immediately authorized it with the Parliament's permission on the grounds of it being top secret. We graduated out of Arcturus University together. We've been...friends a long time. Its just...hard to believe she's gone. I hope she rests in peace; and that those Reaper bastards paid for what they did to her and her team."

"He will sir," Marcus stated with confidence, almost forgetting his current ordeal.  _I will make Harbinger and all the rest pay for all the people I've lost. Good people. No, I won't watch anyone else die. I will kill Harbinger myself, if I must. He will not hurt anyone else._ He knew deep down that that was a promise that couldn't be kept.

Hackett nodded, "And you're absolutely sure this invasion was a threat? I know what I said about it being imminent, but it was literal? Kenson wasn't lying?"

"No," the spectre replied, looking at the ground, "We literally had seconds to spare, Hackett.  _Seconds._ "

"A scary situation if there ever was one," the admiral replied in understanding, and he inhaled, exhaling as he spoke once more, "I won't lie to you Shepard, what you did pissed off alot of people. And by alot, I mean the entire galaxy is now in on this, one way or another."

To his surprise, it was Tali who spoke first, "How...how bad is it?"

He gave her a sorrowful look as he brought up his own omni-tool, the list spreading along on the holographic interface on his wrist, "Let's just say that the Council is, quote on quote 'horrified', by hearing about the event, and Councilor Udina is having a hard time settling down the other councilors. Shepard, I hate to say it, but from what I heard, they were demanding the accused brought forward for C-Sec to arrest."

The list didn't stop, either. Hackett just kept on going.

"The Parliament is up in arms about this, but they're fairly divided," he stated, "They all know who was behind it, Commander. One side thinks you're humanity's hero, and that you're nothing but a poster child to them. The other half wants you apprehended and taken back to Earth for imprisonment until they can decide what sentence to dish out. And then comes the last people we wanted to get wind of this: The Batarians."

"Spill it Hackett," Marcus immediately stated, gulping hard as both himself and his wife waited for what was sure to be pretty bad news, "What's the worst of it?"

He eyed him with caution before speaking, "They're...to put it mildly Shepard, they're demanding your head delivered to Khar'Shan. They seem to know that the Alliance was behind this 'unprovoked genocide' on one of their systems, and they're threatening all-out war with Earth if you're not handed over into their custody, where proper justice can be served. We all know what 'proper justice served' means to the batarians, Shepard."

"Execution," Marcus replied, "I'm well aware."

The news should have been shocking, but he had known it was coming. By now, his name would be all over the news and CNN, and he had no doubt that every member of his species was either disgusted by him, or fully supporting him. Hell, the Terra Firma Party would no doubt be asking him soon to be their poster boy for their commercials and political campaigns. It still pained him to know that he would now be the main goal for a galactic manhunt lead by batarians, but it didn't deminish the fact that he had seen it coming.

Tali moved forward in an instant, "I hope the Alliance isn't actually considering giving into their demands."

Hackett scoffed, "What, and give up their greatest icon and reveal him to be a murderous tyrant in the media's eyes? Definitely not. But the flak is getting heated. Some of the Parliament want to hand you over, but be rest assured, the majority supports not handing you over. They won't sit by and watch humanity's greatest champion be executed by the species that hates us the most, guilty or not."

"If only people knew why I truly did it," he shook his head, looking up at Tali and Marcus as he jumped down from the medical bed, hissing at the pain that shot up his side, but he persevered, meeting the admiral's eyes, "But of course, noone believes me. Noone but Kenson. And all her evidence has died with her."

"Indeed," Hackett deactivated his omni-tool, dropping his hands back to his side, "There's another thing you should know. The Council has begun talks and are...well, they're thinking about revoking your Spectre status. They see you as a terrorist threat and want to mitigate the political impact on their own image by disowning you so that they can better claim that they had nothing to do with you."

_Back-stabbing pieces of shit. Watching out for themselves, fucking cowards. I bet Udina helped 'em with that decision. I wonder what Anderson must be feeling; surely he must have heard about this by now. And mum...damn it, did she hear it too? Fuck. If only they all knew what really happened...what I heard..._

"Let them take it," he felt himself speak, "They can fucking have it. I will not continue to disgrace myself by being affiliated to a bunch of fucking cowards, back-stabbing cunts and political ass-wipers like Udina. I hope the Reapers kill them first. Then they can claim they don't exist as they're turned into husks."

Hackett watched him with barely noticable shock, and Tali looked at him as if he was some kind of monster, "Marcus...don't say that! They be idiots, but noone deserves to die like that, not even the Council!"

_She's right. What I said...that isn't like me. Why did I even say that? I shouldn't let anger get to me like that._

"I'm sorry, I'm just...damn it..." he tried to walk into the middle of the bay, and his wound only stung more. But he could feel it slowly regenerating, if only very slowly. He stopped, Tali moving to help him, but he waved her off, the spectre turning back towards Hackett and standing straighter than before, trying to return to the soldier he was.  _Soldiers don't feel remorse. They kill because they're ordered too. They don't feel pain, and right now, that's the last thing I want to feel. Pain._

Hackett hesitantly moved forward, and Marcus suddenly noticed the indecision once again appearing in his eyes.  _He hasn't told me everything. He's hiding something._ But he was a soldier. He didn't ask questions or demand to be told things. He waited for them. And Hackett delivered, the words coming out of his mouth being hesitant and treading lightly; obviously what he had to say was delicate.

"Shepard...you did what you did with the best intentions, and I believe you about the Reapers. Anderson too. And I'm sure your mother is out there, rooting for you, even if Admiral Arefyev keeps trying to whip her into shape," he gulped, as if his throat was dry and he spoke once again, his eyes full of tension, "But three hundered thousand batarians are dead. All of them, vaporized into ashes, and not even that. The batarians want answers, and the Alliance can't just let you continue to fly your merry way without some form of punishment," He stopped, unable to say the rest, as if choking on the words.  _Just say it damn you. I need to know. What else...?_

"Shepard..." Hackett spoke again, meeting his eyes once more, "Debriefing you wasn't the only reason I came here with the McKinley."  _What?_

"What else did you come here for, sir?"

Hackett sighed, "I'm sorry about this Shepard," he replied, nodding absentmindedly, as if agreeing that what he was about to do was for the greater good, and his own, "But under the juristiction of the Systems Alliance military, and with the powers invested in me by the Arcturus Parliament, I, Fleet Admiral Steven Hackett, hereby ask you to accompany me to Arcturus Station, where you will be placed under arrest and incarcerated until a specified time at which a legal attorney can be acquired for you, and when a date for your trial will be decided. From Arcturus, you will be taken to Earth, city of which is to be left up to the Parliament to decide. Are you willing to cooperate, or is lethal force needed?"

Marcus stood there, shocked for the small part, and by Tali's gasp, he knew she was surprised as well, and felt her eyes on him, waiting for his reaction. It wouldn't be the one she expected. He knew the Parliament would want to dish out some kind of punishment, and in the end, it had to be this one. It was preferable to execution, he surmised.  _But it'll mean saying goodbye to the Normandy. To her crew. To Tali._ He wasn't so selfish as to take his entire crew with him to Earth to face trial with him, and like a protective father, he wanted to shield them and take the bullet for the team.  _We'll have to go seperate ways. Shit, this wasn't the way it was meant to end._

He turned to his wife, her gaze uncertain, and still waiting on him.  _I'm sorry, Tali. My beautiful, supportive, loving wife. You don't deserve any of this. I promised I'd come back to you, but now I'm being taken away from you...far away...light years away...entire clusters away...and you won't even be able to see me. But it'll only be for a short time, I can assume you, and it won't be forever. We'll see each other again, I promise you that._ Despite it all, he had to hold back the tears he wanted to shed as he turned back to Hackett, ready with his answer.  _First the Bahak system, now this. I'm convinced, the galaxy hates me._

He spoke the words without even thinking about it, putting emotion into them that he didn't even feel, "Lethal force won't be necessary, Admiral," he stated like a drone, "I will accompany you to Arcturus Station to await the Parliament's official sanction."

Tali whorled on him in an instant, eyes alight with fury, "Marcus, NO!" his eyes dropped to the floor, closing them as he did, hearing Tali walk up to him and shout in his face, "You cannot be thinking about going with them! You don't deserve this! You cannot allow them to use you as a scapegoat to escape a war! Please don't...I..." suddenly, she wasn't shouting, and she was relaxed. Opening his eyes, he looked at her, and saw her standing beside him, not looking at him, but at Hackett, "I'm coming with you. The Alliance wants you, they can. But they'll be getting the full package."

"Tali-"

"No, I won't stand for it! This is unacceptable! I will not allow them to use you this way! Not alone!"

His hand grasped her shoulder, forcing her to turn around and look him in the eyes, "No, you're not coming with me. You'll be leaving this ship, and returning to the Migrant Fleet where its safe. I will not allow you to take the blame for my crime. Now, go wait outside." The words he spoke were those spoken to a subordinate by her commander, a tone he had not used with her since the early days of the Eden Prime War, a long time ago. It pained him to return to this state, after all they'd been through, to speak to her like this. But he didn't care if she hated him for it; at least she'd be safe and not being accused of crimes she didn't commit and being locked up with him, her freedoms ripped away.  _What did I say before the Aratoht mission? Oh, that's right, 'It's for the best.'_

Harbinger's words on Illium returned in full strength. But this time, they all came. And they all made so much sense when he put the pieces together.

_You will make a choice that will destroy you._

_You will push those you love away in the name of false safeties._

_You will surrender yourself, allowing time for our Arrival._

They all made sense now, and as he saw imagined Tali's devastated expression behind her mask, he could only turn into a bitter machine, too ashamed of what had to be done. Inside, he was mentally screaming.  _Fuck you for being right Harbinger. Just...fuck you._

"W-what?" Tali replied, her voice falling in on itself, "How can you-I-you can't-"

"Out. Now," Marcus replied coldly, "We will discuss your leave later. I need to speak with Hackett."

She backed away, shaking her head, "You can't be doing this...I'm your wife! Don't push me away like this!"

"It has to be done and you know it. I'm not arguing Tali," he growled, shoving a finger at the door, as if sending a child to her room after being grounded, "As your  _Commander,_ I'm ordering you to leave. Do so, or I will toss you out myself."  _As your husband, I'm begging you to leave before I do something I'll never forgive myself for._

Her eyes narrowed, and she pouted aggressively, "Fine then. I'll see you in the cabin. I'll be packing your stuff...and mine," she said the words with bitterness and hardship, the words not full of love but of anger and irritation, coupled with disgust. She stormed out of the bay, the door shutting behind her form.  _That's a battle I'll face later._

He turned back to Hackett, who's face was turned to the door before turning back to him, eyes widened, "Shepard, I understand your frustration, but you didn't-"

He cut him off abruptly, "Give me a couple of days, Admiral. I need to say goodbye to my squad, hopefully drop them off where they need to go. I also need to deal with an angry wife and explain why I need to go. After that, I'll let you escort the Normandy to Arcturus. Also, no action is to be taken against Staff Commander Alenko, as he was not involved in the incident, and was merely working beside me on behalf of the Systems Alliance brass. He will most likely return to Arcturus with me on the Normandy, so I just wanted to make that clear."

"Of course Commander," he stood to attention, snapping a quick salute, Marcus returning it, before both men dropped their hands, "I'll give you time to do what you need to do. I'll return to the McKinley and follow you around I guess; make it look I'm actually escorting you. Save you from any batarian vessels looking to get their claws at you."

He nodded, smiling mirthlessly, "Thank you sir."

Hackett nodded once more and left, leaving Marcus alone in the emptiness of the medical bay. He just stood there for a moment, contemplating what had just happened, trying to piece together where it all went wrong in his quest to stop the Reapers.  _I should never have gone to Aratoht. Damn it, I wish the Alpha Relay had never existed._ EDI's voice interrupted his thoughts, her hologram appearing on the pedestal behind him.

"Commander, are you okay?" the AI asked, "Tali just stormed into your cabin, and her blood pressure is showing a massive spike, indicating extreme anger. She has been exhibiting this since she left the medical bay, and she almost had a physical confrontation with Gunnery Master Vakarian on the elevator. Garrus wants to know what went wrong."

He looked down at her hologram, and didn't answer for a few seconds. When he finally did, he was already turning to leave, pushing past a very inquisitive Chakwas.

"I'm still trying to figure that out."

**{Loading...}**

_November 23, 2185_

_1318 hours._

_'Humanity's Sanctum,' Upper Level, Cronos Station, Anadius System._

_The Illusive Man, First Lieutenant Geoff Dielheart._

"This news is recent, I take it?"

"Brand new sir. Only just aired," Geoff replied from his position behind his chair, datapad in hand as it usually was and eyes locked on the holoscreen before them, "And its completely valid."

A sigh of smoke was seen and heard through the room, followed by the hiss of a cigarette melting into an ash tray, followed by the eerily calm response, which was devoid of any smugness, "So it's true then. The Bahak System is gone; the Alpha Relay was destroyed?"

"Yes sir," he replied, licking his lips as he continued, "Shepard was confirmed to be behind it, but his reasons, as of yet, haven't been released to the public."

"Lieutenant Dielheart, there is only one reason why Shepard, his moral highness that he is, would destroy a system full of three hundred people," a ghost of a smile travelled along his face, "Whether directly or not, the Reapers were connected to that relay, and Shepard destroyed it to avert something. Perhaps to destroy a Reaper, or maybe..." the thought was easy to find, and it made complete sense, "...to stop an invasion. Either way, he succeeded. The Reapers haven't popped up on the news, and no systems are being savaged, as of yet. We are in the clear, and we have Shepard to thank."  _So he is capable of the hard decisions, after all. His destruction of the Collector Base was still a mistake, to be sure, but at least he didn't falter this time. His failure this time would have cost the galaxy not Reaper technology, but its life._ "What is Shepard's status now? He must be being tracked. And how is the rest of the galaxy reacting to this? Save the batarians; their's should be obvious enough."

Geoff cleared his throat, bringing up his datapad as he slid the screen up and down, "Well, the Council has released an official statement saying that Shepard's spectre status ended with his death, and that they had absolutely nothing to do with his mission against the Collectors or the Bahak massacre," he stopped for a moment, rolling his eyes as he finished his sentence, "For those who know Shepard; its safe to assume they've removed his spectre status. He won't have Council backing or funding anymore, which gives us an advantage in locating him."

"Locating him?" TIM replied, raising an eyebrow as he turned off the holoscreen, minimizing the news reports, "No, we will leave him alone. I think he has proven he is more than capable of running a competent operation on his own."

Geoff whipped to look at him in surprise, "We're not? But I thought you wanted us to-"

"Yes, when we were allied with the Shadow Broker, and we were chasing Shepard down to retrieve my ship," TIM sighed, eyes looking away from the bright light of Anadius before him, "Those mission parameters have now changed. Shepard has proven more capable on his own than I previously believed, and the Shadow Broker is now dead. Trying to reel Shepard in is pointless; especially when the resources being committed to that search could be better used building our army. How goes the construction of Titan?"

"Slowly, sir. As can be expected," Geoff replied, tittering at the readouts he saw, "Petrovsky is having his men on Omega ferry as many resources to that particular project as he can, but right now just finding a place to build in secret is proving difficult. The Project Lead says that once they've found the right place, they'll begin laying down the framework. Titan will be finished before the Reapers arrive, he has promised."

He shook his head, "A promise he cannot keep. Our time is shorter than first precedented," TIM declared, standing from his chair, glass in hand as he approached the observation glass, speaking as he did, "If the Bahak Incident is any indication, we are running even shorter on time than we first thought. We must act quickly," he turned to face the lieutenant, eyes demanding to be appeased, "How goes Operation: Sharpened Blade?"

Geoff looked at him for a second before coughing and replying, "Better than Project Titan, assuredly. The Second Fleet was dispatched quite a while ago with the Reaper IFFs from Sovereign's corpse pieces entered into their databases. As of 13 hours ago, they have safely travelled the Omega 4 Relay and are now recovering what they can from the Collector Base ruins. If they find anything, will you want it brought here?"

"Yes. As soon as possible. We will need to commence research on it so that we can develop ways to control the Reapers. As for that matter, how about Project Deathstroke? I hope our dear Mister Lawson is getting well acquianted with his new research quarters."

"We haven't heard much from him sir, but as soon as we do, you'll be notified immediately," Geoff stated, switching off his datapad and clasping his hands behind his back, posture straightening, "Also sir, our agents in the Parliament say there has been...a new turn of events regarding Shepard."

TIM had been about to sit back down, but ceased his movement, glowing blue synthetic eyes locking back onto Geoff's immediately upon hearing his words, "What do they have to say?"

"Shepard is going to be arrested. They came to a decision an hour ago, and they've dispatched the McKinley under Hackett to see to it that Shepard is brought to Arcturus Station and contained them for his trial."

He gratted his teeth, but his kept mouth shut, not wanting to break the air of calm he invoked. But when he spoke, he couldn't help but add the acid in his tone, "And the moralistic fool probably won't resist. He'll give in the moment its suggested." There was other things he wanted to say, but they weren't words you'd expect from the leader of Cerberus, so he kept them to himself.  _With Shepard out of the picture and confined on Arcturus, the galaxy will need someone else to continue preparing it. Cerberus will be just that._

He had come to realize it a long time ago, but Cerberus wasn't just about humanity anymore. It wasn't just humanity's sword. It was the galaxy's shield; its unwanted, unliked, unfavored protector. Their methods were extremely harsh, but they got results. They always had humanity's survival in mind; and now it was time to broaden that spectrum to the entire galaxy. Shepard may be indisposed, but Cerberus would be up to the job. He had the men, the ships, the technology and the power.  _I'll be doing what you're too weak to do; I will protect the galaxy while you waste away in a cell. I will carry on, even if you cannot._

He turned to Geoff for the final time, determination in his eyes, "Bring up all available manpower. Send messages to all Cerberus agents immediately and inform them of our new status. We are now going to continue Shepard's work in his absence. Eva will continue searching through the Archives for what she needs, Kai Leng will continue keeping Aria in check, Petrovsky will rule Omega with an iron fist, and Mr. Lawson will continue his research. But everyone else is to be on standby when they are needed; the Reapers are coming, and we will find a way to control them, or die in the attempt. Understood, Dielheart?"

The man snapped a firm salute, "Yes sir! I'll get on it right away!" With that, he dropped his hand and moved to leave the room in a hurried pace. The Illusive Man himself turned to face Anadius once more, a light filling his eyes.

_Cerberus will protect the galaxy, no matter the cost._

_And controlling the Reapers will not only save them, but bring them under humanity's control. Humanity will ascend to its rightful place in the galaxy, with a Reaper armada enforcing its rule. And the galaxy will finally know that the people born of Earth are not to be trifled with._

He fell into his chair, and the sound of someone exhaling could be heard.

**{Loading...}**

_November 23, 2185_

_1427 hours._

_Mess Hall, Normandy-Class Stealth Frigate Normandy SR-2, In Orbit over Terra Nova, Asgard System._

_Commander Marcus Lee Shepard, Gunnery Master Garrus Vakarian, Master Thief Kasumi Goto, Justicar Samara, Second Lieutenant Jacob Taylor, Staff Commander Kaidan Alenko, Major General Kal'Reegar vas Normandy, First Lieutenant Madi'Soi vas Ceresa, Power Engineer Kenneth Donnelly, Propulsion Engineer Gabriella Daniels, Mess Sergeant Rupert Gardner, Yeoman Kelly Chambers, Flight Lieutenant Jeff 'Joker' Moreau, Chief Medical Officer Karin Chakwas._

There he stood, at the edge of the sleeper pod deck, looking down upon the Mess Hall. He remembered the position well; it had been where he stood after the battle of the Collector Base had concluded, and where he had spoken to his crew; where they had decided to stay with him, all acknowledging the Reaper threat. But now most of them were gone, and he was about to ask the remainder to leave.  _The irony is dripping...practically._

The entire crew had been gathered in the Mess Hall, except Tali who had refused to leave the cabin. Hackett had since returned to the McKinley, the dreadnought now looming over them in an escort position, ready to follow the Normandy to Arcturus Station. Marcus didn't look forward to going, but he knew he had to, to atone for his crimes.  _No matter what Tali says, I have to go. Where else would I go? Run around the galaxy as a rogue criminal? How can a unite a galaxy when all of them want to hand me over to the batarians? No, the crew will have to continue on without me. To do what I cannot._

He looks upon his crew with pride in his posture, a grim smile on his face as she stood there, hands clasped behind his back, wearing his N7 hoodie and pants, but without the cap. They were one hell of a team, and they had been through hell together, but this was a hell they wouldn't be travelling through together. This one he'd be traversing by himself. It was for their own good, and his own. The destruction of the Bahak System had nothing to do with them, and he would make sure to protect them accordingly.  _If only Tali could understand that...but I'll cross that bridge when I get to it._

Finally, with his crew fully assembled, he knew it was time. He cleared his throat loudly, and spoke just as loudly, "Everyone, please settle down and listen to me."

All talk in the room ceased, and all eyes landed on him. Garrus turned from Kasumi, looking at him with interested eyes, and Kasumi crossed her arms, continuing to lean on one hip as she listened to him. Gardner still stood behind the kitchen counter as he turned, and both Kelly and Samara turned from him as well to appraise their commander. Kaidan and Jacob ceased their conversation, and Kal and Madi fixed their gazes on him, hands locked together.

He looked upon them all, and felt the smile drop, and a tear almost reach his eye, but like with Hackett, he did not shed them, for he could not drop his impenetrable visage.  _I have to be strong, if not for myself, then for them. I cannot let them know that I am weak. I must...be strong._ It was killing him inside.

"Most of you probably know why I have brought you here. Some do not," Marcus stated, eying all of them as his eyes scanned the room, memorizing their faces, "But all of you know of what happened to the Bahak System. Of the many lives lost when I detonated the Alpha Relay, and sacrificed their lives in the name of stopping an imminent Reaper invasion. But in the end, it did not achieve anything."

He held up one hand to forestall any disagreements, and when he was sure noone was going to object, continued, "In the end, we merely delayed the invasion a few months. A year, if we're lucky. Kenson told me this herself, and even while she was indoctrinated, I knew she was right. We've merely halted their progress, but they will arrive regardless. And guess what? We still won't be ready. The Council will still be denying their existence, and the Alliance and every other faction will do nothing to prepare for them. When you look at it; we achieved nothing. Changes are still to be made, but that doesn't change facts; three hundred thousand lives were sacrificed for nothing."

"And the Alliance Parliament doesn't even see it like that," the spectre explained, sighing heavily as he inhaled and exhaled, looking down at the ground, "The way the galaxy sees it, I just unprovokedly murdered them and blew up an entire star system in a act of war against the Hegemony. They demand compensation via the retrieval of my head, and the Parliament is unwilling to fullfill that request. But they have promised retribution for my crimes. Even now, the Council has revoked my status as a member of the Special Tactics and Recon branch of the Citadel."

Gasps were heard, and Garrus' eyes widened in anger at this declaration, but they all listened intently, holding any disgusted comments for the end of his speech. His fear, unfortunately, that the comments would be even more disgusted by the end.  _Keep going. Do not falter. Do not weaken. Do what you must._

_Has to be me. Somoene else might get it wrong._

Mordin's mantra gave him strength to continue, and he did, licking his lips as he met their eyes, seemingly all at once, "And their punishment has been dealt. The SSV McKinley is here to escort the Normandy to Arcturus Station where it will be impounded in an Alliance dock, and where I will be handed into custody. For all intents and purposes, I am now under arrest, the Normandy is of non-affiliation, and your service to me terminated. Terra Nova is just below, and Admiral Hackett will provide shuttles to ferry you there. I urge you all to leave, except Staff Commander Alenko, as the Parliament has pardoned him from any wrong doing."

The Mess Hall, as he knew it would, went into uproar. Anger reverbrated in waves throughout the room as people snapped up from their chairs and looked at him in surprise and yelled their disgust and objections. In the end, he was forced to yell to quiet them, "Enough! This is non-negoitable. These crimes are unforgivable, and I  _will_ be handing myself over. This is not up for debate. You have 24-hours to leave the Normandy for it disembarks for the Arcturus Stream Cluster, so say your farewells and be gone. I do not want to see you, any of you, exposed to the political feedback of this, or punished for crimes of my doing."

"This is ridiculous," Garrus objected, standing forward and shaking his head, "You can't be doing this!" He turned to the elevator, before turning back to him, "Tali's anger makes perfect sense now! How can you just turn your back on the Reapers like this, hmmm? How can you just abandon your own wife just to appease the Alliance!"

He turned to Garrus, his eyes alight with fury, "Because its that or war! Don't you get it? The batarians are blaming the  _Alliance_ for this, and if they don't punish me in some way, they'll declare the war. So when the Reapers arrive, they'll be too weakened from fighting each other to be able to fight back, and they'll be wiped out! I will not watch my people obliterated because I wanted to stay safe! I'm not turning my back on Tali; this is the only way I can keep her safe! The batarians will do anything to hurt me now, and what better way than to target her? She'll be safe on the Migrant Fleet, and more importantly, able to help prepare her people for the Reapers! Like the rest of you can!"

He turned to Garrus, "You can go to Palaven, talk to your father, tell him everything you've seen," he turned back to Kasumi, "You've got the evidence, make it public. You can break into buildings to steal stuff, now break into the media and make this stuff live!" he whorled on Samara, "Go to Thessia, inform your leaders! They'll listen to a justicar's words of wisdom, will they not?" He turned to everyone in the room, "You do not need me to save the galaxy; in truth, I am nothing without you! I am nothing without my team! You guys make everything possible, and in the end, my burden becomes yours to uphold. I may not be able to, but you will be. Do what you can, save what you can, but most of all, raise what awareness you can. Besides, never be afraid to say what you need to publically, because you have the Shadow Broker on your side now," he spoke with sternness and compassion, voice laced with sorrow for what must be done, "You guys can do it, I know you can. Go on without me; and use the time we have left wiselessly. For the war has truly begun," he slowly moved down the steps, saying his last words to the group as he moved to leave, "Remember, Hackett's shuttles are in the bay waiting. Get your stuff and leave at your own discretion. I need to speak to Tali."

Before he could leave, he felt a three-fingered hand latch onto his shoulder, and he whorled around to face Garrus, a look of confusion, anger and melancholy in his own eyes. But most of all, there was a look of understanding, "I'm sorry for what you have to do Marcus, I truly am. Just...don't waste away brother. We can raise the army, but we can't lead it. Only you can do that. Serve your time and get back out there. We need you. All of us do. The galaxy does, fuck what the Council thinks about it."

He smiled grimly, nodding solemnly, "Thanks Garrus...for understanding what I need to do. I need to do this. I wish it weren't that way, but it is. Just...make sure you make the time we have worth it. You don't have much."

"I will," he turned to everyone else, "Every single one of us will," he held out his talon, waiting for a brotherly hug, "Come on, give one for your bro, here. I think that's what humans call brothers. Am I your bro?"

He laughed despite himself, taking the hand and slamming forward, slapping his hand on his friend's back, "Yes, Vakarian. You are. No Shepard without Vakarian."

"Don't make that a religion," Garrus quipped, chuckling as he let go, and Marcus pulled away, "I don't want to be accused of starting a revolution of new ideals. Plus, 'Prophet Vakarian' doesn't ring as well as 'Badass the Vakarianm,'" the joke over, his face softened and he patted Marcus a final time on the shoulder, "Spirits watch over you, Marcus. We'll miss you."

"And I you, brother," he replied, turning to Kasumi, "As for you, I don't know what to say."

"Me neither Shep. Never been big on goodbyes, and Garrus covered all I wanted to say," she waved her hands in the air before letting them fall back down at her sides, wrapping him in a light hug of her own, "I guess this is all I can really give you. To...to thank you."

"Thank me?" Marcus asked, confused, "What did I do?" He pulled away, and Kasumi merely giggled, giving him a sideways glance.

"You helped me move on after I lost Keiji," she explained, "I could have kept his greybox, you know. Ignored your suggestion, kept it and dwelled on the times we had together. But I didn't. That was your influence. I destroyed it, and moved on, and while Keiji will always have a special place in my memory," she hooked an arm around Garrus', leaning her head on his shoulder, a grin on her face, "I've got new memories now, a new life. I intend to enjoy them as best I can. Won't be much of a place for a Master Thief in the galaxy very soon."

"Take care of yourself Kasumi," he replied, smiling lightly, "Try not to get into too much trouble."

"I won't. Get into trouble, I mean," she smirked, letting go of Garrus and giving a mock salute, "I'll try my best to raise awareness. Its all I can do, just...just try not to get executed. The galaxy still needs you."

"Goodbye Garrus. Farewell Kasumi. May...may Hashem watch over the both of you," Marcus said to them and quickly made his way over to Jacob and Kaidan, a solemn smile on his face.  _Hashem watch over you? I gave up on religion after I died. Maybe a part of me is still Jewish...just a small part._ He wished for some strength, for these goodbyes were beginning to tear at him deep inside.  _Its only temporary,_ he keeps telling himself,  _but just how temporary is it?_  And no matter what he did, his mind kept travelling to Tali, and what heartbreaking goodbye awaited him in that cabin. Their cabin.

Kaidan and Jacob sighed heavily as he came to them, shaking their heads with a look of regret in both of their eyes, "Can't believe this is where it ends. For now, anyway," Kaidan spoke first, leaning his back against the table with his arms crossed, "I mean, to be taken by politics and back-room deals? Sucks. Almost reminds me of when we got grounded at the Citadel all those years ago when we were chasing Saren."

"Yeah, I remember," Marcus replied, crossing his arms, "But back then, I hadn't blown up a system full of innocent people."

"True," Kaidan replied, inhaling through his nose, "Still sucks, though. I know I'll do my damnest to continue the fight though. Not much I can do on Earth, but I'm sure Anderson will help me out. Surprised they pardoned me though; yet again, probably due to my track record. They didn't hand you over to the batarians because of it, so why would they arrest me?"

"Yeah, I here you," Jacob spoke up, moving to stand beside him, snapping a quick salute, "I don't know you as well as everyone else Commander, but in the time I've served with you, I know that when the fight comes, I'll be there, waiting. Right now, all I can do is stay hidden from Cerberus. Maybe help out the Broker with some information searching. Best I can do really. Can't return to Earth unless I want to be arrested, so that option is out."

Marcus sighed, laying a hand on the man's shoulder, "I know that whatever you do Jacob will be the right choice. Maybe you could head over to Illium first; check on how Miranda is doing and how well she's recovering."

"Thanks. I'll do that. Definitely. It'll do her some good to see a friendly face in that hospital," he chuckled, offering a brotherly hug like Garrus had. Marcus accepted it, and they hugged, breaking apart shortly after with a chuckle, "Until then though, I got to keep up the fight. I'll see Miranda, and then I'll help prepare the galaxy however I can. Maybe get in contact with some of my contacts I had while in the Corsairs. Get their help. Its not much, but its a start. I'll see you around Shepard; and...try and keep out of trouble. Can't stress how much this coming battle depends on you."

"You too Jacob. You're a good man," with a final nod, he shrugged, "All I can say is to do the same. Avoid any merc groups and Cerberus, and prepare the galaxy has best you can."

"Will do Commander," snapping a final salute, Jacob spun on his heel and left, allowing the spectre to turn and face Kaidan, who was awaiting eagerly.

"Well, can't really say goodbye, since I'm coming with you," he lamented, shrugging his shoulders as his arms remained crossed over his chest, "This isn't right."

He sighed in turn, Marcus trying to overcome the events of the past few days as best he could, but it was a battle lost from the get go, "We're past trying to argue the morals of this decision, Kaidan. Best we can both do now is just accept it for what it is and try our best to overcome it. That's all we can do. What would you have done in my place?"

The soldier exhaled through his nostrils, nodding his reluctant agreement, "I see your point, doesn't make it hurt any less. Just want you to know that I'll be there until the end; until your transferred to your cell, that is. Hackett's assigned me as part of your escort, so that eases some things up alittle."

He grinned for a moment, letting it drop as it came up, "Good to know I'll have someone I know watching over me. Thanks, Kaidan. For...everything. For accepting who I was on Horizon, and joining me. You, Garrus and Tali...its as close to the old team as we could get, and its all thanks to you."

"Wouldn't have missed it for the world," Kaidan returned, nodding as he slapped his commander's shoulder with a sigh, and moved off the table, "Well, I'd better stow the armoury. You know, lock up all the weapons and issue the lockdown Hackett ordered. Can't allow you to return to station on a ship that has a fully equipped and available armoury, you know?"

He laughed, "Agreed."

Once Kaidan had taken his leave from the room, he made his way over to where Samara stood with Chakwas and Gardner, all three of them noticing him upon approach and ceasing conversation, eyes turning towards him with a bitterness and sorrow to them. Samara's stare was as stone-faced as ever, however, but Chakwas' face showed genuine regret over the current events, and Gardner looked reproachful, at best.

"Commander," Samara greeted, nodding her at him with solemn grace, "Your speech was...motivational, as was the wisdom put into them. Yes, the asari people will listen to the words of a Justicar. We may be an ancient order, but we have hardened wisdom, and my status as a matriarch will only make my words more digestable. The people of Thessia will listen, but I can not guarantee they will do anything. But I will try my best, as my duty as a Justicar dictates."

"You don't need to prove anything to me Samara," Marcus offered, nodding to her in respect, "You've had my back since this Collector ordeal began, and I trust you to do what needs to be done in my absence. Besides, maybe now you'll have a chance to visit your daughters?"

Her expression faltered for a second, before folding back together, "My duties-"

"-have time. We have months at best, Samara. The Reapers will arrive something; don't you want to see them one last time before going into battle? I know Thane wanted to see his son before he battled the Reapers, so why not you with your daughters? They deserve to know that their mother cares, and it'll remind you that not all them are murderers like Morinth was."

She opened her mouth to respond, but could find no words and eventually just closed her mouth, the ghost of a smile, as always, creasing across her mouth, "You are right, Shepard. I will visit them, see how they are doing. I will also visit Jack at Huerta Memorial; see how she is doing."

He raised an eyebrow at the asari, "You and Jack are friends? Never would have guessed."

"I see Jack as my daughter, in some ways," Samara added in lamentation, a melancholy present in her eyes as she remembered things long past, "She reminds me of Morinth in so many ways. The attitude towards life and fate; the need to beat it at its own game and survive. But where Morinth chose to murder out of a love for it, Jack did it out of a false sense of necessity brought on by her troubled past. I have seeked to fix her, to show her a different path to the one of violence she leads. Because of this, I see her as a daughter I never had. And like any of my daughters, I will make sure is okay, as a mother's duty demands."

He smiled, nodding, "Glad to hear it, Samara. I've always said the Normandy changes the people who serve on it, and that couldn't be more true. Thank you Samara, for everything. Its been an honor to serve alongside you, and I hope to do so again very soon."

"The honor is all mine. By the Justicar code, I have been honored to serve you," she bowed to him, hands clasping behind her back, "And because of this, I must take my leave now. Once on Terra Nova, I will take a transport to the Citadel and see Jack, then to Lesuss to see my daughters. Once that is done, I will return to the home of the asari, and seek to protect it from those who wish to destroy it," a final nod and she left, leaving Marcus with Chakwas and Gardner. He watched her leave, before turning to them, nodding once more, as he seemed to be doing alot.  _What else can I do? My crew is falling like flies, leaving one by one, and it is of my doing._

"Commander," Gardner spoke, voice full of anger, "I'd just like you to know that what you're doing-"

"Duly noted, Gardner. I understand your frustration, but there is no point in voicing in it. My decision is final," he spoke firmly, showing the mess sergeant he wasn't budging. Gardner was about to retort, but Chakwas got in first, holding up a hand to forestall any further argument from him. Sighing, she stood up and out of nowhere, wrapped Marcus in a tight, motherly hug, taking him by surprise. After a second, he returned the hug, and Chakwas tightened it. After a moment, she pulled a way, a few tears in her eyes, but she quickly rubbed them away.

"Just so you know, this is crap. I just wanted you to know that. You know, get it of my chest," Chakwas declared, straightening her posture as she sighed, recovering herself, "I've served with the Alliance a long time, and never have I seen them make a bigger mistake. But I'll stand by your decision, and know when I have to leave. I just wanted to say goodbye; after this, I'll start packing up the med bay. Going to miss it. Loved working in space; luckily, Hackett's kept that in mind."

He widened his eyes in shock, "He kept that in mind...? Chakwas, are you saying...?"

"Yes, I'm officially an Alliance medical officer again," she stated, a smile on her lips, "Hackett pulled some strings, and reminded the Parliament that I technically did nothing wrong in joining Cerberus to help you. Hackett's had me assigned as the medical chief on the McKinley until he can find me another placement. It isn't the Normandy, but at least I won't be stuck on some planet like I was on Mars after you died."

He didn't know what to say. If Chakwas was reinstated in the Alliance, he would have thought that she'd be court-marshalled right alongside him, but she wasn't. Instead she was merely reinstated, no strings attached. At least she wasn't subjected to the same punishment as he was, "That's good to hear Chakwas."

"Jeff, unfortunately, is still posted to the Normandy, I heard," Chakwas said with sorrow, her posture weakening upon the revelation, "Hackett insisted he be allowed to continue to serve as the Normandy's pilot, and the brass gave in. Its good; Jeff loves the Normandy, and I think it'd be suicide to even contemplate removing it from his hands, but for me to not be there...Jeff's gotten used to me as his medical practitioner. Without me there...it won't be the same."

"The Normandy won't be the same, that much is certain, doctor," he assured her, placing a hand on her shoulder and grasping it gently, "But it won't be like that forever. We'll all be back together again. Nothing keeps the Shepard team apart for long."

Chakwas nodded, smiling, "I know, I know...I just get so sentimental sometimes..."

"A little sentimentality never hurt anyone," he smiled, nodding with sadness as he knew the goodbye was coming, "I...I'll miss you, Doctor. I truly will. You've been like a mother to me without my real one around, and I have no doubt you'll do just as well aboard the McKinley. I won't forget you, the crew won't forget you, the Normandy won't forget you."

"Thank you Marcus," she said with a finality, "And hope rest upon you. I may be taking this well, but Tali won't."

"She isn't," he corrected, shaking his head, "But she'll come around. She has no choice," he turned away, nodding solemnly as he moved to approach Gabby and Ken, who talked animatedly with Kal and Madi; likely also giving their own goodbyes.  _She has no choice. Because fuck her opinion, right? You're an asshole, Marcus._ He shook his head, clearing those painful thoughts.  _I'm doing this because I love her. I would never force her to take the blame alongside me. Never would I subject her to that, even if she volunteered to. No, she won't be coming with me, like it or not._

He came to a stop before the four, and all of them turned towards him, snapping salutes.  _I'm no Commander. Not anymore. There's no need to salute. Stop it._ He returned it regardless, before dropping the hand to his side, "At ease. No need to salute anymore. Not at this point in time. As of now, I'm not even your commanding officer anymore."

"You will always be our commanding officer, no what those wee little assholes in the Parliament think," Ken declared, elbowing Gabby lightly in the side to garner her agreement, "Right Gabby?"

"Damn right," she replied with determination, both of them turning towards him, Gabby having to swipe aside a lock of ginger hair that caught in her face as both of them spoke, "Which is why we ain't leaving."

His head snapped back to them in an instant, eyes locking with theirs, "You won't be staying, that's an order. You-"

"-have nowhere to go," Gabby informed him, waving her hand to indicate the Normandy, "This is our home. Ever since the Alliance disowned us for speaking out against the criticism against you, we've known nothing but the world of Cerberus. But now that we've told them to get stuffed, we've only had you and the Normandy. One is now being impounded, and the other is being arrested. We're exposed now," she turned to Ken, a gleam in her eye as she then turned back to her commander, "We go out there, Cerberus won't stop hunting us down. When they find us, they'll kill us. We're engineers; what can we do to unite the galaxy? The only place we have is on the Normandy, where it's always been. So we'll say it again," she turned to Ken, letting him finish.

And he did, "We're staying, end of story."

Marcus couldn't help but smile, his stern expression faltering at their grandiose speech. Finally, he sighed, knowing they couldn't be uprooted from their decision, "You do realize what this means right? The Alliance will arrest you for treason and for allying yourself with a known terrorist organization, just like they'll likely do with me. I can't protect you, and Hackett can't bail you out."

"You think we don't know this? We don't care at this point," Ken replied, waving a dismissive hand, "A matter of fact, none of the crew cares at this point. They're all with us on this. Maybe not Kelly. But that's probably because she doesn't seem to care anymore. She just seems...out of it. But me and Gabby? Gardner? We don't care. Its over as far as we're concerned until the Reapers arrive, and until then, Alliance holding cell is preferable to running from Cerberus for months on end."

"Okay, okay, I see your point," Marcus said, holding up his hand to halt any further argument, "You can stay, not that I can stop you anyway. I just hope you two know what you're getting into," with that cleared, he turned to Kal and Madi, who waited patiently for him to address them. The big issue now was them. And a certain someone who would be returning with them.

"Kal, Madi," he addressed, "Guess I can already tell where you two will be going."

Kal chuckled, Madi letting herself smile behind her mask. He hadn't seen much or knew much about Madi, but he knew she was Kal's mate, and that was enough for him. Finally, Kal stopped his laughing, speaking as he did with his thick accent that reminded him so much of an American, "Yeah, the Migrant Fleet is pretty much the only place we have left to go to. Besides, the admirals will be more inclined to listen about the Reapers now that one of their best marines is supporting the claim. My sanity's never been in question."

He appreciated the joke, and it made him smile slightly, but it was doomed to last only a short while, "Well, my luck goes to you Reegar. And you, Lieutenant Soi. I wish it wasn't like this, but...well, life sucks. And I guess the Alliance had to get back at me at some point for abandoning them and telling them to get fucked."

Kal nodded in agreement, "Always bites us in the ass, doesn't it? Bloody politicians," he patted Marcus on the shoulder, holding Madi's hand in his other hand, "The quarians will be ready, Shepard. I promise you that. We," he motioned to Madi with his head, will make sure of it."

He nodded, knowing the goodbyes were over, he reached the topic he had wanted to talk about the least. The one that hurt him the most, but needed to be said, "Also, I was wondering if you'd take Tali with you. She's going to have nowhere to go at present, and I doubt she'll willingly board that shuttle."

"Of course she'll be welcome," Kal told him, "Its about to you to convince her though."

He nodded, giving one final goodbye, "Then its goodbye, Kal, Madi. Good luck to both of you in your travel home. Remember the real threat." With that, he turned away. More goodbyes, more farewells. More sorrow and melancholy.

And then Tali.

_The worst goodbye of all._

**{Loading...}**

_November 23, 2185_

_1445 hours._

_The Shepards' Quarters, Normandy-Class Stealth Frigate Normandy SR-2, In Orbit over Terra Nova, Asgard System._

_Chief Engineer Tali'Shepard vas Normandy._

Her mind screamed at her to stop. To drop all her things, to stop packing, and to march back down to the Mess Hall and wrap Marcus in her arms, holding him there until he gave in and brought her with him. The pain was too much to really comprehend, and it stung at her like an incessant wound. But her body ignored her pleas, her demands, her infuriated mental yells and screams and continued to retrieve her things from her small, makeshift desk in the center of the cabin, taking them and packing them into whatever pockets she could find in her suit. She considered taking the clothes, but what was the point?  _Can't use them on the Fleet anyway..._

Marcus hadn't followed her up, and she could only take that as a bad sign. The Marcus Shepard she had seen in the med bay hadn't been her lover, her boyfriend and her eventual husband; it had been the Commander she had forgotten about two years ago; the one that had disappeared, at least for her, ever since they became a couple and he had opened up to her. But he had shut closed again, keeping her out and the sheer cold in his words had hurt her to the core, and infuriated her.

_The destruction of that relay did more to him than I could have known. If only I had seen the signs, and known just what it had done to him. It cracked him, split him up, and now he's doing his best to fix the damage, and this is the best way he can show it. By handing himself over...abandoning me..._

Her belly ached again, but she ignored it, too furious to care, too angry.  _So blinded by his need to atone for his 'crimes,' that he's turned his back on his own family! I'm probably going to be pregnant with his child soon if this serum works, and he just leaves me to go to Earth and live in a cell? And for what? Because he stopped a threat noone will recognize? He's a...AN IDIOT!_

With an irritated, high-pitched scream, he grabbed her suitcase and violently threw it across the room, where it slammed into a bulkhead nearby and fell onto the ground, spilling its contents all over. She slid and fell onto the couch, feeling as if her head was about to burst, the endurance of her torment quickly falling apart. She couldn't take it anymore. The idea of leaving him...it tore her apart.  _I can't just leave him..._

Her screaming had made her deaf to the sound of the cabin door opening, and she was almost startled from her lamentation when Marcus' voice spoke up just behind her, a resigned inflection in his tone, "Kal and Madi have agreed to...to take you back to the Fleet. You'll be leaving in twenty minutes, so I'd recommend packing up. I'll...I'll help you, if you want..."

The words sounded forced, like he didn't want to acknowledge their existence. She didn't either, as she lethargically got up and walked over to the steps at the bottom, looking up at him with sorrow in her eyes, but also a pent up rage, "You...that's all you have to say?" she had learnt alot from humans, and what she said even surprised her, "Get your stuff and piss off to the Flotilla? Because fuck my feelings, right? I don't matter."

His eyes widened in his surprise, but she saw his lip quivering, as if the last of his resolve was crippling, and this was all he could to keep himself from falling apart. But for the most part he kept himself together as he responded, "I'm doing this with you in mind-"

"No, you're giving yourself up, that's what you're doing," Tali yelled over the top of him, moving up to the steps until she was in his face, "This; all of what you're doing, is because you need to atone. Well go fucking atone. Because I obviously don't matter. You don't even care about what I think, you selfish bosh'tet."

"I'm doing this to keep you safe..." he said softly, as if saying it too loudly might destroy him, the man never having been as delicate as he was now, "To keep you...out of the line of fire...I won't see you convicted alongside me...this is for your own good..."

"Remember what you promised about coming back to me?" Tali asked, moving a bit further away, anger still present, "Remember what you said?"

He froze, as if caught in the act, and he murmured something. She spoke up, "Excuse me, what?"

He spoke louder, and she heard his words, "I remember. I promised. I made a promise."

"And you broke it. Or breaking it. Whichever one comes first," she waved a dismissive hand, not caring for the consequence, "You're turning your back on me, on your unformed child, on your crew and on yourself. I need you, Marcus," she stated, leaning on his desk, "I need you, and this is what you do? What kind of husband are you? I thought you loved me."

"I do love you damn it! That's why I'm doing this!" he yelled, as if finally unable to take the criticism anymore, "I'm not doing this for me, but for you! I want to keep you out of the line of fire! To protect you!"

"And maybe I  _want_ this? Did you ever think about that?" Tali replied furiously, jabbing a finger hurtfully into his chest in her haze of vehemence, "Maybe I want to be with you! You made not only a promise, but a solem vow at our own wedding! Say the words!"

"Tali, please. I'm begging you. Understand-"

"I don't want to hear it! I'm sick of listening to your bullshit! Say the damn words you bosh'tet!"

He gave in, unwilling to meet her eyes as he looked at the ground, his resolve all but fallen apart. He said the words in a soft voice, one that bore the brunt of a coming wave of tears, ones he had been bottling up since he said his goodbyes down below, "Till death do us part."

"Till death do us part," Tali replied in tandem, shaking her head, "So you do remember. Yet you seem so intent on tearing us apart from each other. We are husband and wife, till death do us part, and yet you want me to leave you. If I didn't love you, I would have left and never come back. But I do. I love you like no sane woman should, and will never leave your side, no matter how much you anger me right now," she moved forward and into his face, "So what do you say? Let me come with you."

He muttered something.

"Excuse me?"

He muttered again.

"Said it louder!"

"You're not coming with me, alright!" he yelled, startling her. They stood there, looking at each other. A deathly silence fell over them like a shroud, and after a while, he broke it, attempting to move forward and wrap her in a hug...

...only for her to give him a death glare as she placed both hands on his chest and pushed forward, pushing him back. The force surprised him and sent him staggering into a wall, and his hurt expression would never leave her mind ever again, just the sight of it pained her, but he had seriously pissed her off.

"Don't touch me," she cursed at him, moving to go down the steps, "You've lost that right. Don't presume to touch me ever again."

She moved down the steps, moving over to the bed to retrieve her things. They were still sprawled out on the door, some of the items having fallen onto the bed. She would miss it sorely, and she would miss Marcus. She hadn't lied; she would always love him, but if this was how she was going to get her point across, she needed to show him she meant business. But just as she painfully moved to pick up her stuff, she heard a light sob.

She stopped, and heard the sob followed by another, followed by yet another. Standing, she turned to see Marcus sitting against the wall, looking at the ground, a flood of tears coming down his cheeks in waves. Despite her mind telling her to just leave him there, that he had done no less an amount of damage to her, but she something else made her fall apart at seeing him like that. Caving in, she walked slowly over to him, watching him just sit there, letting it all out.

Whether he noticed her returned presence or not, he gave no indication, he merely began talking, as if speaking to the ground, "Its...its all gone to shit since I landed on Aratoht...a simple fucking mission...I...I couldn't even stop that from going over and around," he shook his head, wiping his eyes, "Kenson dead, along with three hundred thousand. I keep saying those numbers, and no matter how much I try to convince myself that they are alot of people dead, I just can't seem to weep tears for them," he looked up at her finally, eyes full of confusion, "I weep tears over losing you, but three hundred thousand murdered at my hands doesn't warrant that? What the fuck is wrong with me?"

"Am I a monster to be so unfazed?"

She couldn't answer that one, merely meeting his eyes and shrugging, ever silent.  _Maybe I've been the one who's been selfish...but why would he-_

"That's the real reason I'm telling you to leave, Tali," he informed her, looking back at the desk, "Because the trial of a monster is not where you belong. Its with your people. You're not a monster. But I am. The monster who murders thousands and doesn't even shed a tear. A selfish monster who fears losing his wife, who doesn't even deserve the burdens he places on her."

She cracked at that, and she fell to her knees, flinging her arms up and around him, "Don't say that. You're not a monster, you're not."

"Oh, but I am. Its just something I've come to accept," he stroked her head in melancholy, sniffing as he finished his weeping, looking up at the ceiling, "You...I need you to leave Tali. I maybe selfish, and you can hate me all you want, but I'll be content knowing your safe on the Fleet, where you can help prepare for the Reapers. I don't care if I have to-"

"You won't have to force me," she gave in, whispering into his ear in defeat.  _The torment he has been put through, I will give him this wish. We will be together again, so it can't be that bad, right? This isn't the end,_ "Just give me several minutes to pack up. And to say my goodbyes."

He nodded, looking at her, "You don't have to-"

"I do. And about what I said," she picked her head up and tapped her visor against his forehead, and looked into his eyes, "I didn't mean them. Any of them. I'll always love you, and you're never forbidden from touching me. I was just...so angry with what you were doing, I couldn't see the bigger picture. I'm going to miss you, though."

He lifted a hand, stroking her cheek, wrapped up in the moment as he felt her own hand begin to wipe away any tears left behind, "I'll miss you too; never said I wouldn't. I will think of you everyday and moment I spend in that cell, content in the fact that you're some place else, with people to talk to you and friends around you," he smiled as he finished his sentence, "I love you too, Tali. And that's why I'm doing this."

They sat there for a few more moments, wrapped up in each other's love. Tali wanted to weep as well, but she had to be strong, for his sake. If they both fell apart, neither of them would have the strength to leave, and they knew that was plain unacceptable. So with reluctance, she pulled herself, helping him up with an offered hand. He took it, kissing it as he let go, turning to wear she pointed her finger.

"My stuff...threw it across the room in my anger...I'm sorry, but um..." she scratched the back of her neck, watching him cautiously, "Will you help me pack up?"

He smiled wearily, sighing as he did, and took her hand in his as they moved over to the clothing left on the ground, "Of course I will. It'll give us a chance to...say what needs to be said."

They spent close to two hours packing up...well, they spent five minutes packing up and cleaning up, but after that Tali had suggested 'making love to each other one final time,' to which he agreed. When they were finished, they had cleaned up, gotten dressed again, and straightened out the bed, before he took Tali's stuff and followed her into the elevator, hitting the button for the Shuttle Bay.

They arrived sooner then they would have liked, eyes fixed on each other the entire time, and hands locked together tightly. When the elevator doors opened, they didn't want to leave, but reluctantly pulled their eyes apart, let go of each other's hands and Tali picked up her suitcase, immediately heading over and into the bay, where a single alliance kodiak was waiting; dressed up in white and blue.

As they approached, they attracted the attention of the squad, Chakwas and Kelly, the latter saying she had wanted to work on the Citadel, hopefully for C-Sec in some form. Tali had said her goodbyes to them, especially a drawn out one with Kasumi, followed by Marcus, Tali and Garrus joining in a group hug; they had stuck with each other the longest, and therefore had the strongest bond. When they seperated it was out of reluctance. Garrus boarded the shuttle, followed by everyone else, with Tali just standing there and staring at it. Seeing that she wasn't getting on, he approached her and wrapped the quarian in a tight embrace, and she followed it, arms tight around him as she let the suitcase drop to the ground.

"I love you," she whispered.

"I love you too," he replied in an equal whisper, "Keelah Se'lai."

She pulled away and tapped her visor against his forehead, before reluctantly pulling away, picking up her suitcase, and slowly entering the shuttle, turning around at the last second as the hatch closed, and he stayed in view of her eyes through the observation window. He approached silently and placed his hand on the window, and she nodded to him without a word, placing her own hand over his behind the window, trying to touch each other, but failing. Tali could only watch, silent tears sliding down her cheeks, as the shuttle lifted off and shot out of the shuttle bay, leaving the Normandy behind.

It was the most painful ride in living memory.

**"So this is it? The end of another chapter?"**

**\- Reia'Inas pav Earth.**

**"Yes. Another chapter is officially over. But only after you've read the final page. And my story isn't quite over yet. The Reaper War. Its the most vital part."**

**\- Marcus Shepard.**

**"Do tell."**

**\- Reia'Inas pav Earth.**

_**A/N:** _

_**Last chapter and epilogue tomorrow, and Requiem will be officially over. And so Holocaust will begin, and the Reaper War along with it. Its going to be the most epic of the series at this point, only beaten a bit by Ultimatum, which will be the final chapter. We're nearing the end, but not quite there.** _

_**Thank you my loyal fans, for hanging around as long as you can, and for those fresh and new, for reading on. You've given me the inspiration I need to continue, and I can only hope Holocaust is everything I hype it up to be.** _

_**Keelah Se'lai.** _


	34. Guilty Before the Sanction

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Shepard hands himself into the Alliance to stave off an interstellar war, and to buy the galaxy time. Tali makes a reluctant homecoming on the Fleet.

**REQUIEM**

**CHAPTER THIRTY-TWO:**

**GUILTY BEFORE THE SANCTION**

_November 24, 2185_

_1600 hours._

_Cockpit, Normandy-Class Stealth Frigate Normandy SR-2, Moving to dock with Arcturus Station, Arcturus System, Arcturus Stream Cluster._

_Commander Marcus Lee Shepard, Flight Lieutenant Jeff 'Joker' Moreau, Staff Commander Kaidan Alenko, Power Engineer Kenneth Donnelly, Propulsion Engineer Gabriella Daniels, Mess Sergeant Rupert Gardner._

There it was; Arcturus Station: Capital of the Systems Alliance, and seat of its parliament. The most heavily-defended Alliance installation in history, and surrounded by a fleet of ships. Even now, as he watched on, he saw the entire Alliance First Fleet, lead by Fleet Admiral Adina Netanyahu, swarmed around the gigantic space station, ranging from corvettes and frigates to destroyers and cruisers and even a carrier or two, accompanied by the odd battleship and of course, there was the single dreadnought that was currently drydocked with the station, which served as Adina's flagship; the SSV Aconcagua, which was only recently posted as her flagship he heard, as its construction was only completed by 2185 and was a Killmanjaro-Class, which, opposed to her original flagship the SSV Everest, was superior, as the Everest had been of the obsolete Everest-Class.

Upon entering the system via its mass relay, with the McKinley not far behind, they had immediately run into a patrol of five frigates and two destroyers, all of them running a tight formation around the relay and all part of Adina's First Fleet. Either way, they did not bother the group and simply continued their patrol as the McKinley stroad past, its intimidating form looming over the Normandy as it was basically towed towards Arcturus Station lying in the distance, almost right next to the sun Arcturus.

He had heard the stories about the Arcturus Stream cluster; how in a billion years, the entire ring the cluster sat on would disintegrate into nothing, and the Stream would practically float through dark space. It was interesting to hear about, and because it was so far away, the Alliance hadn't even bothered putting that into account.

The design of Arcturus Station looked much like the mass relays, when he thought about it. The huge space station was basically a pronged fork; a large disk sitting at the back, with two arms folding outward on the left and right, and you had the capital of humanity. It was covered from metal bulkhead to metal bulkhead in alliance blue and white, with the occassional Alliance insignia painted on it, and of course was the source of a horde of activity; transport freighters, warships and even a few ships from the turian Hierarchy and the Salarian Union, most likely being diplomatic vessels. But everyone cleared way for the giant Killmanjaro-Class Dreadnought heading straight for the station, unwilling to get in the way of it and its cargo.

He straightened his posture, eying Joker as he sat there, the control terminal infront of him switched off and deactivated, as were most of the systems on the ship. Gabby and Ken had deactivated the drive core and everything else aside from basic life support and lighting had been switched off in preparation for the Normandy's impounding. They all sat there and watched their doom approach.

He turned to EDI's holopad, watching it come to life, "I trust you'll stay hidden, EDI? Don't want anyone to find you."

The AI's response was quick and he swore she sounded offended, "Of course I will, Shepard. I would not allow myself to be found intentionally by the Alliance; their reaction to finding an AI on the ship would be hostile. Plus, it would not help in the case already being built against you. Suffice to say, the controls to the AI Core have been shorted out, and I will remain as inactive as possible. They will not even know I am here."

"Good work EDI," he replied solemnly, before speaking his final words to the AI, "This is also goodbye, EDI. We won't be seeing each other for a long while after this, so I expect this'll be the last time we do. Its been an honor knowing you and having you help us during the fights against the Collectors, the Shadow Broker and of course, the batarians and Project marines. Couldn't have gotten this far without you," finished, he added, "And...I'm also sorry for distrusting you at the beginning. My animosity and distrust proved to be unfounded."

"I am in no way offended, Commander," EDI replied, and he could imagine a smile on her face, if she had one, "Goodbye Commander. And may your journey be peaceful and without peril. I hope we meet again. If there is anyone who has shown me what it means to have a crew, it is you."

"You're welcome EDI. And thank you," with that, he turned away from the holo pedestal, straightening his back and clasping his hands behind his back, eyes looking out the windows and so focused on the approaching airlock on Arcturus that he barely heard EDI's response.

"Logging you out," and with that, her hologram winked out of existence, and it would be a long time before he saw it again.

"Well, this is it. The final run," Joker piped up, looking at everyone gathered in the back of the cockpit, "Final goodbyes. Boy do I hate them. No humor to be found in them."

"I dislike them too, Joker," he replied, a grim smile on his face.  _Saying goodbye to Tali was one of the most painful things I've ever done in my life. Except dying. I don't want to go through that again, but most of all, I don't want to go through months of life without her. And the worst thing is, all I'll be able to think about is her. And whether I did the right thing._

The pilot shook his head, eyes meeting his own, "Easy for you to say. I'll be all on my lonesome on this ship, with only EDI to keep me company."

"You at least have EDI. I have  _no one._ Period," Marcus stated, shaking his head with a grin, "But hey, you have alliance dockworkers to talk with. Surely they'll be fun to talk to. And marines. Oh yes, our talkative marines..."

Joker just gave him a hardened glare, his eyes telling Marcus all he needed to see as the pilot gave him a deadpan response, "Gee, thanks Commander, but I think I'll pass. I was glad that I got to leave the Alliance for a reason, not because the lights were too much."

Marcus could only chuckle in light amusement, "Hey, better than no company at all..." Just being by himself on Aratoht had been an excruciating experience, he didn't want to imagine months of loneliness in a single, barren cell.  _And that's if they even give me a cell..._

"Yeah, I guess," Joker rubbed the back of his neck, "Kinda sucks. Just try not to kill your guards while you're sleeping in that cell of yours. Don't want the Alliance finally finding a reason to kill you off."

He chuckled, nodding, "I'll keep that in mind. Thanks Joker."

"Anytime commander," he replied, and for a moment, both of them went silent. Out of the group he was in now, Joker, aside from Kaidan, was the one he'd known the longest during his travels on the Normandy, and they had formed a strong bond during that period; a best friends kind of bond. This goodbye would be one of the hardest, but they would overcome it, just like they'd done to the rest of the challenges set before them.

Finally, Joker spoke, tipping his cap in respect, "Serving you has been a blast, commander, sucks to see it end. To everyone just...leave. But I guess it had to end with us going seperate ways again...just for us to come back together again. But I'll be here, sitting in this seat. EDI ain't going anywhere, and neither is the Normandy, so we'll be ready when you need us again. Just send the call. We'll even break you out of prison if you have like...a change of heart, or something."

He shook his head, smiling alittle, "Nothing like that Joker, but I'll think about it. Until now, I guess this is goodbye," the Normandy docked with Arcturus, and the ship seemed to vibrate as it did, shaking with the very contact. As soon as him and his crew stepped off it, it would then take off again, and that would be the last time he saw the Normandy, his ship, for a very long time.  _Everything is being taken from me, piece by piece. And I am powerless to stop it._ With a grunt, he slowly turned to the airlock, facing its chrome surface. He heard Joker's voice behind him, speaking to him.

"I'll see you around Commander. I just hope you know what you're doing."

"I do Joker," he replied, smiling at him slightly, "And thanks for one hell of a ride."

"Wouldn't trade it for anything. Now, you better get going. Guards aren't going to hang around all day, if you're any indication. Goodbye...Marcus."

"Farewell Jeff," and with that, he tapped the interface and entered the airlock, followed by his crew and Kaidan, who stood in full alliance combat armor, weapons strapped onto his sides and back. He came to stand at Marcus' side, a solemn expression on his face, and his posture straight and approving. He leaned into his commander's ear, whispering.

"Good luck sir," he said simply.

"Thanks Kaidan," he replied just as simply, nodding as he returned to facing the door, waiting for the decontamination cycle to end. It cycled through, over and over, like an executioner slowly dragging his axe towards his victim. He closed his eyes, and inhaled a breath of air, trying to calm himself down. When he was done, he opened his eyes and exhaled, straightening his posture and clasping his hands behind his back, entering full Commander Shepard mode. Unbreakable, impenetrable, irrevocable.

So when the airlock door finally opened to omit him into Arcturus Station, he was ready, confident and determined. With a sigh, he moved one foot infront of the other, his body seemingly moving of its own accord, with his crew not far behind. After about a second, he was fully standing in one of Arcturus Station's many corridors, where observation windows lining the entire hallway gave them a beautiful view of the space around them, and the many ships flying by. As he turned, he saw the Normandy depart, and watched with sadness as the ship flew away, guided by the McKinley as it headed for...the relay?

 _Just where are they taking the Normandy?_ That's all he could ask himself as watched Hackett's flagship, Normandy tagging not far behind, slowly shrunk away, becoming dots travelling towards a blue dot in the distance. He was suddenly yanked from his thoughts by the sound of a marine's voice behind him.

"Sir? I said turn around."

He did as he was told, already knowing how this worked. He held his hands out infront of him, both of his wrists touching each other. The marine looked surprised but merely shrugged, taking out his pair of omni-cuffs and tightening them around his wrists, reciting him the Miranda's Rights as he looked at Kaidan, who seemed to be receiving orders from another soldier. He didn't listen to the rights being recited, as his gaze was already fixed on the N7 who stood nearby, N7 Valkyrie in her grasp, and watching him with a blank stare. Marcus watched as the rest of his crew were cuffed and hauled off down the corridor, and Ken, Gabby and Gardner merely nodded to him on their way past, carried off, along with the rest of the Normandy main crew as they were taken to some unknown location, leaving just him and Kaidan.

Turning back around, he was just in time to see Kaidan give a final nod, before he turned to Marcus, his glance telling him all he needed to know; he had been reassigned, and had to leave. With a final nod and a look of concern, Kaidan grasped him on the shoulder and left, taking off down the same blue and white corridor the rest of the crew had been hauled off down, uncuffed.

"Come with us sir," the N7 ordered, and he turned back around in time to be gently prodded forward by her, and he began moving of his own accord, surrounded by a squad of armed marines as they escorted him down the hallway, "You'll be taken to a temporary cell where you'll be held until your trial. After that is their decision. I was filled in on the bare details."

"That's okay Captain," he replied, noticing the rank listed on her armor, and merely smiled at her, "I already know what's going to happen to me, its just a matter of making it official."

The N7 merely nodded as he turned back down the corridor, walking towards his cell. Just as they moved around the corner and to the right, down a long hallway leading further into the station, he heard the special forces operative say, "Don't worry sir; I'm certain you're innocent."

He merely smiled, unwilling to voice the truth on that subject.

_Oh, but I'm not, soldier. I most certainly am not._

**{Loading...}**

_November 24, 2185_

_1618 hours._

_Shadow Broker's Office, Halcyon-Class Prototype, Hagalaz Storm Center, Hagalaz._

_Shadow Broker Liara T'Soni, Agent Feron, Glyph._

Becoming the Shadow Broker was definitely  _the_ defining moment in Liara's life; it had set her on a completely different path from the one she had planned. She had planned to simply kill the Shadow Broker and rescue Feron; she in no way had planned to become the very thing she fought destroy, but here she was, in its base, controlling essentially everything. She had a vast realm of information, and it was all at her finger tips.

"Shadow Broker, new information has been compiled by your agents," a familiar white drone behind her stated, seemingly hovering right behind her head, "Would you like it fed to your terminal.

She rolled her eyes, bracing her arms against the desk that served as main terminal for the wealth of intelligence at her disposal. The drone, or the Shadow Broker's automated VI assistant, had been very annoying to begin with, but she had grown accustomed to it. She had named it Glyph, as it seemed fitting for a drone of his helpfulness level. And it was very helpful; if only she could get it to stop calling her Shadow Broker.

She turned to it, nodding to the hovering drone that reminded her so much of Tali's Chiktika, "Yes, feed it to the main terminal and then leave me in peace. I have work to do."

"Very well, Shadow Broker," Glyph acknowledged, before turning and flying away, leaving the asari alone to her thoughts. She shook her head and then pulled a seat from under the terminal, and moving to sit on it as she then pulled herself closer in. A soothing voice from behind her spoke, and it immediately brought a smile to her face as its source came to brace his own body against her desk, eyes locked on her form.

"You know, you really should reprogram it so it doesn't keep saying that," Feron suggested, "Some days I just want to shoot it."

"Now, now Feron," she tsked, waving a finger at him, "No damaging my equipment. As much as Glyph can be annoying, it is extremely helpful."

"And annoying. That's the key feature," Feron continued his complaint, but upon seeing Liara's look, held up his hands in mock defeat, shaking his head as he turned to look at the terminals surrounding her, "But I'm not going to look a gift horse in the mouth. Glyph lives...for now. Just please remember to reprogram so it doesn't call you that."

"It'll be on my priorities list," she remarked, turning back and bringing up her terminal, cycling through the many menus until she reached her main inbox. Seeing the information Glyph had told her about, she opened it to see that it was a news report...about Shepard.  _Oh, I wonder what he's been...up...to..._

As she read on, she could only begin to droop, and her eyes continued to expand into tiny saucers.  _No, this can't be. Shepard would never...how could he...? By the goddess..._

"Feron, come look at this," Liara requested, and the drell was there in an instant, looking over her shoulder at the information scrolling past her screen. She was already standing and moving away, walking down the steps and into the main office. The glass dome on the ceiling still hadn't been fixed, and she had kept the scorched mark of the Shadow Broker's body etched into the floor as a reminder of her victory. But it didn't remind her of victory at the present moment. She felt herself trying to comprehend what had happened in her head.

_How did I not know about this? That Shepard had destroyed an entire star system? That he had had been arrested by the Alliance? That he just arrived on Arcturus Station for trial, and that the Normandy has been impounded, and the whole crew disbanded..._

She couldn't begin to understand what Tali must have been going through, having to leave her husband behind to return to the Migrant Fleet. It must have been painful having to leave. To just...walk away, not of her own accord, but by order of the said husband. And the rest of the crew...she couldn't even comprehend how lonely Shepard himself must feel...no friends around him, just the cold, blank, accusing eyes of the Alliance and its citizens...

And she realized, for all her power and resources, she couldn't help him. Not without raising alarm, and that's probably why Shepard got himself arrested to begin with. But why would he blow up an entire solar system? One with a colony of three hundred thousand, at that? He must have had a reason. Some logical explanation had to exist.

She heard footsteps behind her, followed by a hand on her shoulder, softly squeezing, "I'm so sorry, Liara. I didn't know. You couldn't have known until it was too late."

"How did this information escape me? And for two days at that?" she asked incredulously, shaking her head frantically, "I'm supposed to be the Shadow Broker, the one who has all the knowledge, the one who knows what you ate for breakfast! Yet I couldn't even find out that a STAR SYSTEM WAS BLOWN UP AND SHEPARD WAS ARRESTED!" she whorled on him, eyes brimming with tears, "I should be figuring out how to rescue him, return him to where he belongs and break the Normandy free, but I can't. I don't have the resources. I don't have the troop power. I don't have the skills necessary. All my power and information, and I can't even use it to save my friend."

He clasped her in a tight hug, whispering reassurances in her ear as he rocked her back and forth, trying to sooth her, "Helplessness is something we all feel. For all your resources as an information broker, you couldn't save me from the Shadow Broker, yet you eventually did. The same is to be said here. The time will come when you will have the power to rescue him, but until then, we must wait."

"While the Reapers are still coming?" she asked, looking up at him, breaking the embrace for but a moment, "How can I even contemplate that? The galaxy needs him to protect us all."

"Yes; when the Reapers come," Feron wiped the tears from her blue cheeks, placing his forehead against hers, "But that is for some time to come. Right now, we have to do our best to prepare. No doubt he has his entire squad out and about looking for ways to stop the coming threat, and that's what you should be doing. That's why you took up this job in the first place. To prepare. So...prepare. Use your resources and manpower for something you  _can_ do."

She sighed heavily, nodding and pulling herself from his embrace as she wiped away what tears were left on her cheeks and collecting in her eyes, "You're right, Feron, I just hate being so helpless, when I'm supposed to be the least helpless of them all. Power's gotten to me already."

"Then you'd best use it wisely," Feron suggested, moving to the side and waving a hand at the terminals standing at the back of the room, "For our time is short. The Reapers will come, and we'd best be ready for them when they do."

"As ready as one can be," Liara replied, straightening her posture, steeling herself and moving towards her desk with a new sense of determination, "I can't rescue Shepard, but I can help him while he's locked up. I joined Shepard not to just help him fight his battles, but to fight the ones he couldn't. From now on, I am the Shadow Broker, and I will stop the Reapers no matter the cost."

She stopped, turning to Feron with a cold look of confidence in her eyes, "Feron, bring every single resource and agent we have to bear. Its time to initiate Operation: Arrival. Every soldier, every scrap of information we have, reel it in. I want our agents across the galaxy scavenging for clues, any pieces of evidence we need. As for myself, I shall begin packing," Liara declared, continuing her progress up the steps towards the main terminal above.

_I know just where to begin my search. And it requires a personal touch._

"Packing?" Feron stopped in his tracks as he almost reached the door, and he quickly turned to face her, a frown on his face, "Just where do you think you're headed?"

She sat at her terminal, a huge smile growing on her face in the midst of the dried tears on her cheeks, eyes searching the screens before her, "Where, you ask? Why, to the biggest treasure trove of Prothean information in the galaxy," she brought up the information immediately and began typing messages to her agents.

"I'm going to the Mars Archives."

**{Loading...}**

_November 27, 2185_

_1121 hours._

_Trading Deck, Liveship Rayya, Migrant Fleet, Aysur System, Caleston Rift Cluster._

_Brigadier General Tali'Shepard vas Normandy, Major General Kal'Reegar vas Normandy, First Lieutenant Madi'Soi vas Ceresa._

Tali sat there, suitcase in her lap, sitting opposite Kal and Madi, with her hands folded ontop of the suitcase and looking at the ground with a thoughtful expression. She felt dead inside, like everything that helped her function and operate had just shutdown and stopped working, leaving her with an empty feeling. It was one of the worst feelings she could ever have, and she knew the cause.

But even as she sat there, she felt sick. Like her stomach was churning and twisting, and trying to push its way up her throat. It left her with a nauseous feeling, one that made her want to vomit, but she held it back as best she could. She didn't have time to be feeling sick; only time for sorrow, emptiness and a fuzzy life expectancy. Life was looking very bleak without Marcus by her side, and she just missed him all the more.

The transport that had taken them to the Migrant Fleet had stopped on the edge of the system, deploying them in a shuttle as it expressed no desire in getting any closer to what they seemed 'a filthy place.' Not in a position to call them out of their racist prejudice, they had simply taken the shuttle, the pilot guiding them within the Rayya's trading deck and gently bringing them down. Finally, they were home. Back on the Flotilla.

 _But it isn't home. The Normandy is, and she's been taken away. And my husband. And everyone I loved and cared about. At least I have a mother and aunt here...and someone I think of as a brother..._ she got a quick glance in Kal's direction, who had been asleep, but was now wide awake and gently shaking Madi's shoulder, who had fallen asleep on his shoulder, waking her up. She averted her eyes away, melting back into her thoughts.  _But Garrus...Kasumi...all of them are gone...somewhere in the galaxy now...Garrus is back on Palaven most likely, Kasumi...is somewhere...and my mate is wasting away in some cell on Arcturus Station...oh Marcus...why did you make me leave..._

Of course she understood his reasons already, but constantly asking left her mind at ease; convinced her that she hadn't just left, conforming to his decision. And now she was here, light years away from him, and she could barely feel his presence.  _Till death do us part..._

_Who's death? Ours? Or the three hundred thousand he blew up to stop the Reapers? Was our vow that open to interpretation?_

Just as the shuttle landed, the sound of its thrusters deactivating heard even from inside, the sick feeling returned; nausea, and a twisting feeling in her gut that made her want to spew the contents of her breakfast out onto her lap.  _What is wrong with me? Why do I feel the constant need to vomit? And why does my belly feel about ready to explode?_ Come to think about it, her stomach had felt it had expanded, but that couldn't possibly be connected, could it? And why had the achings deep in her core stopped, only to be replaced by this?

_They're not connected too, are they?_

She didn't get much time to ponder on that as the shuttle hatch shot open, revealing Shala and Meru waiting on the deck, hands clasped behind their backs. They had been contacted prior to the transport's arrival in the system, and Shala had transported from the Tonbay to the Rayya as soon as possible.

They had also heard about Shepard's imprisonment, and Tali's eyes locked onto her mother's, seeing the sympathy in them, even behind the mask. She shook her head, standing up, suitcase clasped in one hand.  _I don't need sympathy. I need to be left alone to my thoughts. To recover so we can focus on the real problem. Don't worry Marcus, I won't let your incarceration weigh me down. I'll help you. I'll save the galaxy._

She took her first step off the shuttle, followed by her second, and quickly made her way over to Shala and Meru, Kal and Madi not far behind. Tali tried to look strong, at least for appearences sake, but who was she fooling? Noone was going to believe she was standing strong after being forced to leave her husband behind to the mercy of the Alliance democratic justice machine.

But she kept on anyway.

"Tali," Shala greeted, her tone carrying a grief that Tali knew she only carried for her quarian niece and her current predicament. She moved forward, wrapping her niece in a tight embrace, before pulling back, sighing and shaking her head, "I'm so sorry about Marcus. I heard about the destruction of the Bahak System. Are you alright?"

 _Do I look alright to you?_ Tali mused, but she did not voice those negative thoughts: they wouldn't help at all, so she simply said, "I'm still a bit shaken, but I will recover. Marcus has assured me that this isn't a permanent arrangement, and we will be back together soon. I've always trusted him to follow his promises, so I'm willing to wait. But right now, the Fleet needs me, and I'm ready to serve. If only to prepare our people for the Reapers."

"That's my girl," Meru complimented, nodding as she also moved in an hugged Tali, moving her away from Shala as her aunt began to debrief Kal and Madi in secret. The two of them moved over into a corner, where they could speak privately. Once there, Meru turned to her again, hands on both her shoulders, "Although you don't need to play the strong game anymore."

Knowing they were in private, Tali allowed herself to plop her head down onto her mother's shoulder and began to quietly weep, trying not to draw any attention, "Its...its not fair...what they're...doing to him...he doesn't...deserve any...of it...the bosh'tets! He saved them, and they repay him...by doing this..."

"Ssssshhhhh..." Meru soothed, rubbing her back whilst also rubbing the back of her hood, "Life is hardly fair. And as long as you know he did the right thing, you cannot fault him. And that is all that matters."

"I miss him..." she continued to sob, holding onto Meru tighter, "Its only been six days, and already I yearn to be in his arms again; to hold him, kiss him, tell him he's safe. Keelah...its so painful..." she managed to control her sobbing long enough to pull her head up, looking into her the elderly quarian's eyes, "Is this how you felt when you had to leave father and flee the Fleet?"

Meru gulped, hesitantly nodding, "Yes. I felt empty, aimless, but most of all alone. I wanted to stay by your side and watch you group up, and most of all, I wanted to stay by my husband's side. But I had to leave, because its what was best, and you know Marcus wanted you to leave for the same reasons. To keep you safe; protect you from the political blowback of his decision," she sighed, smiling as she tapped her visor against her daughter's, "Only then do you know he truly loves you."

She smiled weakly behind her mask, before finding the need to back away slightly, the need to vomit becoming almost overpowering. When she finally managed to fight it off, she stood to see her mother's worried face, and she shook her head, nodding, cheeks still stained with tears, "You're right, mum. I just thought-keelah yeah. I just never thought it'd be this hard."

Meru barely heard her answer, her focus solely on Tali.  _What was that? Why did she pull back and hold her stomach like that? The last time that happened to me I found out I was pregnant with Tali...wait...no, she couldn't be, could she?_

Regardless, she had to ask.

"Tali, is something wrong?" she asked, something dawning on her.

"What?" she replied, shaking her head, "Oh, its nothing. I just feel a little sick..."

"...in the stomach? In your chest? Like it wants to tear you apart?" Meru finished for her, and noticing the surprised expression on Tali's face, knew she had hit the nail. But she had to confirm it. She had to know for sure. Taking Tali's arm, she began leading her out of the bay, "I'm taking you to Doctor Nara. She'll need to take a look at you."

"Okay, but you need to tug at my arm. Seriously, its just a sick feeling. It'll probably disappear soon," Tali insisted, and Meru let go, letting her daughter walk beside her at an ordinary pace. Eventually, Tali turned to her having realized something about what Meru said, "What,  _Doctor_ Nara? Since when was Veetor a doctor?"

"Veetor? You mean Elan's husband?" Meru returned, laughing, "No,  _Elan_ 'Nara vas Rayya, not Veetor. Don't know where you got that from."

"Wait, so Veetor and Elan did get married! Keelah yes!" Tali exclaimed, fist pumping the air, having seemingly, within a moment, forgotten about her situation. Noticing the frown Meru gave her as they left the deck and moved towards the ship's medical bay. Seeing the expression, Tali laughed awkwardly, scratching the back of her neck, "Yeah, they weren't married the last I was here. Actually, they only got together a couple of months ago. Their relationship is travelling fast."

Meru simply nodded as they continued towards the medical bay, a mother's thoughts ever present and nagging at her.  _My daughter might be pregnant. The first interspecies child to be produced naturally. But is it true? Or is it just her body reacting in some weird way to the foreign DNA? We won't know until Elan tests her._

After a few more minutes of moving through crowded corridors, they arrived in the med bay. Standing behind her desk and shuffling through papers was Elan'Nara vas Rayya, and she looked up at the two of them almost immediately as they entered, and her eyes darted from Meru and Tali, making the connection in seconds as she approached, a smile behind her mask, "Tali, it is good to see you again. What brings you here?"

Meru answered for her, moving in to whisper in Elan's ear. After a few seconds, Elan's eyes widened, seeming to just stare at Meru for a few seconds before looking back at Tali. Still shocked, it took her a few more moments before she finally composed herself, motioning to the bed in the middle of the bay, "Mrs. Shepard, could you please lie down on that bed over there?"

Tali nodded slowly, putting her suitcase down and leaning it against the wall, "Okkkaayyyy...why?"

"Just do it," Elan replied alittle too harshly, but she made no attempt to apologize as she began rummaging through her desk's drawers looking for something. Tali merely watched her for a few seconds, before glancing back up at Meru, who simply nodded at the bed. She rolled her eyes, shaking her head as she moved over to the bed and sat on it, before quickly lying down, bed positioned so her head was slightly elevated and she could see her whole body. Meru was at her side in seconds, hand grabbing hers and rubbing the top of it. She merely frowned.

"What is going on?"  _Why are they acting so serious about this? Its just me feeling sick. Nothing out of the normal for a quarian. Probably just a mild fever building up, although I don't exactly know what caused it..._

Elan, finally finding what she needed, returned to her side, looking at Meru for a few seconds as she held a small, circular white object in her hands. Her eyes hit Meru's, and she nodded to a set of controls near the door, "Run the decontamination cycle. Once its done, we'll see if you're right."

"Right about what?" Tali asked in confusion, looking between Meru and Elan, who merely looked back at her blankly, "Can someone tell me what's going on?"

"We can't be sure," is all her mother said as she dashed off, entering the code to begin the decon sequence and returning just as the beam of cleansing light began to row back and forth across the room, murdering all bacteria it came across. Tali only continued to watch them in confusion as they waited for the sequence to complete, which took all round, about ten seconds. Once it was over, Elan was already moving over to the end of the bed, and looked down at her.

"Tali, could you please spread your legs," Elan requested.

Her eyes widened, "No! Absolutely not! If you think I'm going to let you access  _my_ suit-"

"Do it Tali," Meru ordered, her tone cold and brokering no argument, "Do it now."

"I don't see what's wrong-"

"We need to make sure! Now spread your legs, damn it!"

"Fine, but I'm telling you, I don't understand why you need access to my...to my...you know what just to see if I'm sick or not!" Without further objection, she spread her legs open, allowing Elan access. The quarian promptly thanked her, but she ignored it, simply looking away at a far off wall as Elan began to release the seals surrounding her vaginal area, removing them and putting them aside. Tali, as always, almost shivered as the cold air impacted the exposed skin, but kept her gasp inside. She was more than used to it at this point. Then, Elan asked her something, and her eyes were brought back to the quarian, who was now prodding her device into her...you know what.

"Tali, when was the last time you bled?"

She shrugged, "I don't know...a week...maybe more ago...I don't get it, what has this got to do with my sickness?"

She heard a gulp from Meru, followed by Elan removing the device and resealing her suit. The doctor disappeared for a second, before returning, still holding the device, and appearing to be reading some data on it. Tali merely watched her, waiting to see what this was all about. All she saw was Elan holding the device over her, facing it towards Meru so she could see. And when she saw them, Tali saw her mother visibly cringe, as Elan pulled it away and tucked it in a pocket, both of them looking at Tali awkwardly.

"Okay, you better explain what's going on.  _Right now,_ " Tali demanded, this time ordering answers.

"Tali..." Meru began hesitantly, "How do I say this..."

"Just say it!"

Meru cringed at the words, but knew she was backed against a wall. She had no choice, and her daughter was giving her a death glare. She glanced at her one final time, before looking at the floor, shaking her head, "Tali...you're pregnant. With Marcus' child, we have no doubt. We don't know how, but its happened. You're carrying his child inside you, and the readings say you're due in six months."

Tali merely lay there, unable to move, the words shaking her to the core. She had known that Mordin was a genius, but his serum had worked. It had actually worked. She was now pregnant with Marcus' child. She didn't know if it was a boy or a girl, but that didn't matter; she was going to be a mother. A rush of emotions impacted her all at once. She felt confusion as to how it could have worked, anger that they hadn't just warned her before dumping this on her and...sorrow. Wait, having a baby was a joyous time. What was so sad about it?

And then she realized what saddened her. There was a special someone who was supposed to be here when such things were announced, and by the time she was ready to give birth, it was likely he still wouldn't be there, when husbands should be. A tear fell down her cheek and before she knew it, she began to weep. And Meru and Elan could only stare at her in confusion.

She was pregnant, and going to be a mother. But the father was nowhere in sight. He was locked up, and at the very eve of a coming Reaper invasion.

She truly was alone now.

**{Loading...}**

_November 28, 2185_

_1900 hours._

_Alliance High Court B, Metropolitan Sector, Arcturus Station, Arcturus System, Arcturus Stream Cluster._

_Commander Marcus Lee Shepard, Legal Attorney Travis Volt, Fleet Admiral of the Navy Joseph Garrong, Fleet Admiral Adina Netanyahu, Kastanie Drescher, Fleet Admiral Nitesh Singh, Fleet Admiral Viktoriya Arefyev, Fleet Admiral Steven Hackett, Fleet Admiral Osamu Nakamura, Fleet Admiral Chang Teoh, Fleet Admiral Duncan Ward, Captain Hannah Rila Shepard, Commander Phillipo Conigilione, Rear Admiral David Edward Anderson._

Marcus sat there, waiting for the trial to start as the judges moved to their seats in where the judge and the jurors were usually seated. All of the judges were military officers; and all of them where every single fleet admiral in the Alliance Navy. Garrong would be the main judge, with his gavel placed on the platform infront of him. All around him and in the audience sat multiple other military officers of every stripe, from navy, to army, to Marine Corps, to N7 or vets. Anderson sat in the front row, with his mother and her XO, and all three of them gave him a nod of reassurace and confidence. He merely nodded back, already knowing his fate before they gave it. He was guilty before the sanction.

He sat with omni-cuffs tying his wrists together, two alliance marines standing behind him at attention with avenger assault rifles in hand, but wearing no helmets. Those weapons likely had live rounds in them too, and the N7 officer who had arrested him upon docking with Arcturus stood at the front of the room, along with four other N7s, acting as bodyguards for the judges. All around the room there even more marines standing at attention, the brass knowing full well of his abilities and making sure they brought more than enough men to take him down.  _Not that I'll attempt an escape._

He turned to his right, watching his lawyer sitting next to him as he shuffled through his papers. He wore a black tuxedo that was well groomed and looked after, with blonde hair that was combed neatly to the left, his blue eyes eerily peaceful to look at. His nose was large though, and his face looked like it had been hit with a shovel, giving this look they made his chin jut out, and his face seemingly having sunken in slightly, and he was missing a few teeth. And by the gold ring on his finger, he looked to be married.  _He's not what I'd call attractive. Tali would call him...what was the word? Uglier than a bosh'tet?_

Still, he guessed he should be grateful; this was his defense attorney, after all. Every once and a while, he would turn in his chair to discuss something with Marcus or to clarify a few things, but aside from that, he remained relatively quiet. Marcus just sat there, feeling more vulnerable than he ever had.  _Yet again, I've never been okay with being at the complete mercy of a Judge's words and without wearing combat armor. Always made me feel...exposed. Naked, I guess. God I miss my armor already. And the feel of a weapon in my hands._

He shuffled in his seat, moving his wrists into his lap where they were more comfortable, but these damn cuffs were beginning to chafe them. It got to the point where he tried to itch them, but remembered he couldn't, so he just let them fall back into his lap, resigned. Besides, he had bigger things to worry about than chaffing wrists.

The court he sat in was huge, and its sheer size made Marcus feel tiny. Afterall, he was in the High Court, a place the Alliance barely touched unless it was matters like treason...or the mass genocide of thousands of innocent. Marcus had a feeling he was in here for both, if he were honest. The Alliance had been at him for joining Cerberus for quite awhile now, so he shouldn't be surprised at this point. Just as he mentally laughed at those facts, the court was called to order by the resounding thump of Garrong's gavel, followed by the man's loud voice echoing through the court room, "Bring order to this court so we may begin."

Silence fell on the court room, and Marcus felt as if all eyes were on him. All eight of the fleet admirals looked down at him in an instant, excluding Garrong, who's eyes landed on his lawyer, "Mister Travis Volt. I believe you're standing here in defense of Commander Marcus Lee Shepard of the Alliance Navy and Systems Alliance Marine Corps?"

Travis stood up, nodding as he did, straightening his uniform, and clasping his hands infront of him, "I am, your honor."

Garrong's eyes landed on Marcus, who did not move to stand, "Marcus Shepard, you are accused of numerous crimes in the face of your duty to the Systems Alliance, of which I will list off. Are you prepared to admit guilty or not guilty to these crimes?"

"I am, your honor," Marcus replied, merely nodding.

Garrong nodded, looking down at the podium before him, clearly reading off some document. After a moment, he looked back up, meeting Marcus' eyes as he braced himself against the podium, "You stand here accused of both treason and the ability to commit genocide. First off, you are seen as committing treason against the Systems Alliance Military on the following boundaries: 1. You were falsely listed as being Killed In Action upon confirmation of the destruction of the SSV Normandy SR-1 over Alchera, but later appeared two years later alive and well, and not only that, but flying Cerberus banners. 2. You were affiliated with a known terrorist organization, known as Cerberus, which has committed heinous acts of terrorism and extreme nationalism against not only the Systems Alliance, but also the Citadel Council and its citizen races. 3. Because of this affiliation, you have been seen as a deserter because 1. You did not inform the Alliance of your survival and 2. You did not attempt to make any contact with the Alliance post-survival, or report for post-action duty," finally finished, he looked at Marcus, eyes narrowed, "Do you deny these accusations?"

Marcus watched him for a few seconds before responding, "Yes and no, your honor. May I be allowed to elaborate, your honor?"

Garrong nodded, "Yes. Proceed."

"I deny that I was alive during the two year period of my inactivity," Marcus stated, "I was indeed dead, your honor. As an affiliate of mine said, 'I was just meat and tubes' when he saw me arrive at Lazarus Station for the first time. Cerberus spent billions of credits putting me back together, and two years later, I awakened. Whether you believe this or not is up to you; I am only here to tell the truth."

"I do not deny being affiliated with the terrorist organization, Cerberus. Of that, I am guilty. But the reasons are mixed, and the alliance was one of pure convenience, and not due to a sharing of mutual views on galactic society. Cerberus was a means to an end; that end was the Collector threat being posed against our colonies, and as you'll all know, I put a stop to that threat. The Illusive Man and myself had a falling out, and my crew and I cut ties many months ago; hence why my ship no longer flies Cerberus banners."

"As for being a deserter, I have my own words for that, your honor," he braced himself against the desk infront of him, meeting the eyes of every admiral in the room with a hardened, cold gaze, "It is the Alliance who deserted  _me._ Was it the Alliance's scientists who brought me back from the dead, and spent billions doing so? Was it Cerberus who swept the  _Reaper threat under the rug?_ " his eyes scanned the room, eyes accusing, "No, it was the  _terrorists_ who brought me back, not the Alliance. It was the  _terrorists_ protecting our colonies, not the  _Alliance._ No, I didn't abandon you, I just saw an organization that was willing to do something, and used them for my own gain. Interpret that however you wish, but don't try and accuse me of desertion when you deserted your own colonies. You know, the ones who  _rely on you for protection?_ "

Cries were heard in the court, and people began shouting, only to stop as the sound of Garrong's gavel slamming against the podium was heard, "Order! ORDER!" when silence was reached, he turned to Marcus, gaze just as cold, "The Reapers and the rest of your conspiracy theorism is not the topic of this trial, but your point is acknowledged and noted. Moving on."

"You are also accused of genocide, of a type that is inconceivable. You not only destroyed a mass relay, but are also responsible for the destruction of an entire batarian star system, equivalent to dropping a 1000 megaton  _nuclear bomb_ on the United States, in the Hegemony's eyes," he said, shaking his head in disbelief, "But this is only half of the information. The other half pertains to the mass murder of three hundred thousand innocent batarian men, women and children in the space of seconds. Not only that, but the destruction of a batarian light cruiser, the BRS Glorious Point, that was reported to have been patrolling in that sector when the relay detonated, and has since been assumed lost with all hands. How do you plead to this?"

This was it. The big moment. All eyes were on him. He met Garrong's gaze without fear, but alot of remorse, "I...I plead guilty, your honor."

The room was immediately in uproar, and this time it took Garrong several minutes to get the court to be peaceful again. Marcus, in that time, managed to look over at Anderson, Hannah and Phillip in the stands, and saw Hannah's devastated look. Phillip looked absolutely shocked and Anderson gave him a look that said 'you did the right thing.' Of course, Anderson had already known what Shepard had done, and knew he had his reasons. Reaper involved reasons.

His lawyer shook his arm, turning him to face Travis in an instant, who looked at him with a look of anger, "What the hell are you doing? What's the point of me defending you if you're just going to plead guilty anymore?"

"Hey, don't blame me. I didn't ask for an attorney," Marcus replied, nodding at Hackett in the judges' stand, "He provided one, not me. I was fully prepared to suffer punishment going into this."

Travis merely looked at him for a few seconds, before sighing, throwing his hands in the air as he returned to standing. By that time, Garrong had finally got the court back under control, and was looking at Marcus.

"Before we proceed, are you absolutely certain that you believe yourself guilty of these crimes, Marcus Shepard?"

He nodded, "I am, your honor. I had my reasons, but its quite clear that noone is willing to hear me out, so what's the point? Decide your verdict and be done with it. I won't waste my words on people who won't listen to me. But trust me, you'll all come running to me when they come. You'll all beg for my help, hoping I have all the answers. And I'll tell you then what I've been telling you for years;  _arm the fuck up or its over for all of us._ "

"Duly noted Commander," Garrong stated, before turning to the admirals behind him, "This court will be adjourned for a period of one hour. During that time, the admirals will build consensus. When we return, the verdict will be decided, along with your sanction," he hit the gavel against the podium once more before moving to walk away, "This court is adjourned." As he left, the female N7 snapped a salute and quickly followed behind him, followed by the rest of the admirals, and the audience filed out, leaving Marcus alone. He merely sat there, unwilling to leave.  _I want this over with, and they're prolonging it. They know I'm guilty, so why not just cast the verdict already?_

"Aren't you coming?" Travis asked, packing up his suitcase.

"I'll stay here, thanks," Marcus simply replied. Travis simply left without a word. And Marcus sat in sullen silence, barely moving an inch, and during that entire time, he just closed his eyes and slept, dreaming of Tali.

When he was forced awake by Travis, the court was back in session, with the admirals moving back to their positions, the audience to their stands, and Garrong to his podium. When he found silence, he turned to Marcus, who just sat there, in the same sullen silence he had been in, watching Garrong, waiting for the verdict.

"This Admiralty Board has reached its decision," Garrong declared to the entire court, eyes now scanning them all to let them know of his declaration, pointing his gavel at Marcus the entire time he did, as if he needed to let everyone know who he spoke of.

"Based on the guilty plea from Marcus Shepard, and the verdict of the Admiralty Board," he drew out his words, as if building towards the great climax, "That Shepard, for his treason against the Systems Alliance and the mass murder of hundreds of thousands, be sentenced to death via lethal injection. However, due to the fact that the second crime that demands execution is a murder against batarian lives, it goes differently. Because of this, Shepard should be extradited to Khar'Shan, where his fate will be passed on into batarian hands."

Marcus gulped, not thinking it would end this way.  _I expected imprisonment, but execution? No. Tali; I promised I'd come back!_ He began scanning the room for exits, but stopped when he heard Garrong speak again.

"However, it seems that the Admiralty Board's decision was divided, and a complete decision was not reached. Majority ruled in this regard, but that is not enough to justify capital punishment," Garrong declared, looking at Marcus sullenly, before looking away, "Those admirals who were against execution will not be named, but there are other things to consider. Marcus Shepard is a distinguished war veteran, and we have not forgotten his actions on Elysium during the Blitz, his involvement in the attack on Torfan afterwards, and the trauma he was put through on Akuze. Of course, this does not make him any more innocent, but he is a champion to the human race, and his good deeds speak louder than the bad ones. And the Parliament still has not come to a decision on the Reaper situation, so it is possible that your genocide may be justified. Which is why a different sanction has been reached."

With a heavy sigh, he spoke with a finality in his voice, "In light of your service to not only humanity, but the Systems Alliance and the galaxy, you are hereby sentenced to protective custody. A call has been made to the Defense Committee of Vancouver City on Earth, and an apartment room in their headquarters has been cleared for your arrival. The period of your incarceration is subject to a good behaviour bond, of terms that will be discussed in private and are of a classified matter. A bodyguard will be at your door day and night, and you will not be allowed to see anyone, talk to anyone via the extranet, or send or receive messages. Do you understand these terms, as they have been read, Marcus Shepard?"

"I..." he was still surprised by Garrong's generous good will, but he surmised it wasn't all good will and decided to accept before he changed his mind, "Yes, I do, your honor."

"Also, due to your inactivity in the Alliance Navy, and your inability to report for duty, you are hereby removed from the rank of Commander, and stripped of your status as a Naval officer, and a officer of the Marine Corps, until further notice."

_Commander Shepard is no longer a Commander. Ha._

"I understand, your honor."

"Good. The McKinley will have you escorted to Earth, where you'll be transferred into the care of the DC of Vancouver. You will also be subject to the commander of Rear Admiral Anderson until further notice. This court is adjourned."

He couldn't argue with the results of that meeting. He just couldn't. And as he was picked up the marines behind him, relieved of the cuffs on his wrists and escorted to the McKinley's docking bay, he could only muse that the galaxy might just have a chance afterall.

The Requiem wasn't upon them yet.

_**A/N:** _

_**Epilogue coming shortly, I hope.** _

_**And no, it won't be what you expect.** _


	35. Epilogue

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A young Alliance marine is approached by Anderson with an opportunity he can't pass up.

**REQUIEM**

**EPILOGUE**

_November 29, 2185_

_1700 hours._

_Subeez Cafe/Restaurant/Bar, Vancouver, United North American States, Earth._

The drink swirled in his hand, the brownish looking whiskey giving off the heavy smell that he had come to associate with alcohol. It was a wonderful smell. He loved it. But he loved the feel of it passing down his throat, the warmness it gave him. It allowed him to ignore the stinging pain that he still got from losing his squad, and he couldn't help but find himself going to bars just like this one. At least here he was safe, somewhat.

"You going to deal or what, human?"

He ignored the batarian's annoyed taunt, and slammed the card down on the bench without even looking at him, knowing he had won the game, but taking no pleasure in it.  _How could I care if some puta loses his money? Doesn't bother me in the slightest. Got bigger things to worry about._ He took another gulp of the whiskey in his hand, savouring the warm drift of it down his oesophagus. It was sweet bliss.

"What!" The batarian exclaimed, slamming his own cards down in anger as he glared at the human who had beaten him, eyes narrowed in a glare, "You beat me!"

"That I did," the marine replied, finally turning to face the snarling batarian, "So why don't I see credits infront of me?" Without even waiting for his response, he landed his hand down and snatched all the credit chits from the three batarians, and placed them in his breast pocket, smiling as he did, "Been a pleasure,  _mi amigos."_

Claiming his winnings, he turned back to the counter, moving to retrieve of the chits to use to buy another drink, but stopped when he saw the TV stop playing the same boring golf it had been, and switched to a CNN report, with the words 'breaking news' along the bottom. Below that it said 'Commander Shepard incarcerated' and everyone in the room literally stopped what they were doing to watch, and so did he. He had always been a huge Shepard fan, and to say he was surprised by what people called the 'Bahak Incident' was an understatement.

Soon, a male reporter appeared on the screen, human and obviously standing outside the Defense Committee HQ in Vancouver. The man began speaking, motioning to the building behind him, "Thank you, Wilkins. As you can see, I'm currently standing right outside the Systems Alliance Defense Committee headquarters in Vancouver City, where Commander Shepard, now recently removed from active service, has been moved after Fleet Admiral of the Navy Joseph Garrong sentenced him to temporary protective custody under the armed guard of Rear Admiral David Anderson. We questioned him earlier today."

The scene switched to one of Shepard trying to push through a crowd of reporters to reach the building, with two marines behind him struggling to keep up, and what looked to be Anderson right infront of him. Finally, the reporter on the CNN reached him, and stood before him, mike raised, "Commander Shepard, why did you destroy the Bahak System, do you have anything to say for yourself?"

Shepard merely looked at the camera for a few more seconds, before shaking his head, snorting him and then picking up the camera, throwing it across the crowd and away. The marine could only laugh at the reporter's face as the second camera footage kicked in, and Shepard managed to escape.

"Why did Shepard murder three hundred thousand innocent batarians? Why, has he gone from champion of humanity, to our worst kept secret? Find out more on-"

In a fit of anger, he picked up his glass and threw it at the screen, smashing it in a instant, causing the feed to cut out. The batarians growled in protest, and the bartender turned to him, angry, "Hey! You can't just do that! Do you know how expensive that TV is?"

He shrugged, taking the credits he had won and throwing them at the bartender, who managed to catch them. As the marine began to walk away, he spoke, "Pay for a new one with those."

Not even turning to see if the bartender heard him, he moved to walk away, only to be stopped by an outstretched arm as the the three batarians from before came to stand infront of him, eyes narrowed in anger.

The leader spoke, cracking his knuckles, "You got a problem with justice, human?"

"Excuse me?"

"You heard me," he snarled, "That butcher killed my people. Thousands of them. He deserves what he gets. I'm just disgusted that the Alliance didn't send him over to Khar'Shan where real justice could have been served. Imprisonment is hardly a sentence worthy of a murderer."

"I'll that in mind the next time the Hegemony raids another one of our colonies," he stated, moving to walk away, only to be blocked again, "Look, you either move or I-"

"Or what? Fine, walk away. I don't want anything to do with a dirty Shepard lover, anyway."

That's when he lost it. Sick and tired of the shit he was getting, he lashed out, his first punch connecting with the batarian on his right. He went flying into the bar, allowing him to duck as the leader swiped at him with a knife, already having the same idea as he had. Just as he tried to stab him in the scalp, the marine leapt up and grabbed the knife, twisting it from his grip and letting it fall to the floor, allowing him to slam a knee into his gut, followed by an elbow in the mouth, sending him onto the ground. One batarian managed to grab him from behind, but he simply shot his head back, his head impacting the batarian's nose with a sickening crack, followed by a scream of rage. With the batarians distracted, he saw his chance to run and he took it. Without even looking back, he sprinted from the bar, the leader's words following him, "Run, you filthy coward! Run, just like Shepard did!"

He ran out into the corridor and down a set of steps, before arriving in the main atrium. He turned around, making sure noone was in pursuit. But just as he turned back around, he stopped, an alliance officer standing infront of him, position unflinching and he came to a abrupt stop infront of him. He was a Rear Admiral, if his officers bars were anything to go by and he wore an Admiral's military cap. He was about to scan his features when he saw the dark-skin, and immediately recognized him. Widening his eyes, he stood to attention, snapping a salute, "Admiral Anderson, sir!"

"At ease, Lieutenant," Anderson replied, returning the salute with a shake of his head, "What are you running from this time?"

"Nothi-"

"There he is!"

They both turned to see the three batarians running towards them. He turned to face them, ready to fight, but also thinking just how crazy they must be to attack an alliance officer  _right infront of an Alliance admiral_ on Earth of all places.  _I must have seriously pissed them off._

Anderson was infront of him before he knew it, and was ducking low, delivering a sweeping kick that took one of the batarians off his feet and onto the floor, where Anderson abruptly eliminated him with a swift kick to the head. Spinning, he managed to dodge the other's punch, where he grabbed the arm, ducked under it, and twisted it until he heard a satisfying crack, followed by Anderson taking the man's knife and using the handle to break his nose, stunning him. Without even looking, he turned and stabbed the charging leader in his kneecap, causing him to scream in pain before Anderson then grabbed him by the scruff of the neck, and toke him down onto the floor, where he was finished off with a swift punch to the face. Standing back up, Anderson barely watched as he kicked the last batarian in the balls, causing him to fall onto the ground in horrorendous pain; one he didn't watch as he quickly motioned to the Lieutenant to follow him, who had been just watching in awe. Seeing the Admiral's motion, he quickly him out of the building and onto Vancouver's busy streets where a skycar was waiting.

"Sir, that was-"

"-awesome? Yes, people seem to forget I was an N7 long before I was an Admiral," Anderson explained, moving up to the skycar and opening it, beckoning him to get in.

"Sir? I'm on shore leave."

"Not anymore. I've got an important task for you that doesn't involve moping around in a bar. Now get your ass inside this car before I ram you with it."

He didn't need to be told twice, and quickly got inside, closing the door behind him as Anderson assumed the driver's seat. Gunning the engine, the admiral made a vertical takeoff, before disappearing into Vancouver's skyline. Joining in the traffic, Anderson eventually spoke, not looking at him as he did, "So, Lieutenant. What do you think you've achieved today?"

"Not much, I guess. Just been drinking, playing cards."

"So you're moping."

"I'm not-"

"Don't play that game with me, son. I know a moper when I see it. I got my ass handed to me by a bunch of fellow marines when I was young, thought I was bloody invincible. Then I got saved by a salarian spectre. A  _salarian_ spectre. I moped around alot after that, and that was before I was even an N1. You know what I achieved? Nothing!"

"With all due respect sir, getting saved by a salarian spectre doesn't match losing your entire squad defending a colony from the Collectors, then having to choose between saving the colonists from an escaping Collector ship, or destroying the ship and getting information on the Collector homeworld's whereabouts, then choosing the latter, only to learn that the Collectors had been defeated by the time I obtained the information, making my choice worthless, and wasting all those lives."

Anderson had merely listened. When he was finished, he asked him something completely random and out of the blue, "You a fan of Shepard, son?"

"I...yes sir, but I don't see how-"

"Yeah, well he just tried to stop an imminent Reaper invasion," Anderson told him, "You heard of them?"

"Only rumors. People said the Council thought Shepard was crazy."

"Yeah, well they're a hyper-advanced machine race of-"

"-sentient starships hellbent on destroying all life in the galaxy every fifty thousand years, and they wiped out the Protheans, the geth worship them, and the geth dreadnought that attacked the Citadel was a Reaper. Yes, the rumors mentioned those, by chance."

"Good. Saves me alot of needless explanation. Yes, well Shepard just stopped them from invading not too long ago. But to stop them, he had to ram an asteroid into the Alpha Relay to stop them from entering the galaxy through the Bahak System. That's why he did. To stop them. And you know what?"

"What?"

"He did it to stop them, only to be imprisoned, to learn that the galaxy still won't be ready when they arrive, and that he won't be able to scavenge for more evidence. He killed three hundred thousand batarians, and for what? Nothing. He delayed their invasion, if only to buy us a few more months, or years if we're that lucky, of bliss. So trust me, Shepard understands how you're feeling. But right now, he isn't moping around like you are. So you need to get your shit together. What's done is done, no getting past that."

He nodded, straightening his posture in the seat and looking out the front windscreen, eyes full of newly found confidence, "What do you need me to do sir?"

"I need you to help me guard a certain, very important prisoner."

"And who might that be sir? And why do you need me to guard him?"

"Because marines of your caliber, Lieutenant Vega, are very rare," Anderson replied vaguely, shaking his head, "This prisoner likes rare calibers."

He turned to him, suddenly his mission now dawning on him. A smile creased his lips, "And just...who might this prisoner be, Rear Admiral?"

A moment of silence, followed by three simple words.

"Commander Marcus Shepard," Anderson informed him, "That's who."

He could only lean back and relax, liking this new job position already. It beat any station assignment, and at least it was guard duty he could get into.

The day just got better for Lieutenant James Vega.


End file.
